Things I Should Have Said
by BlueMoonTigerWolfe
Summary: Emily Hamming has lived on the streets, run away from home, been adopted twice and been abtucted by vampires before age twelve. Now Emmy's fifteen, and ready to escape. But how? R&R please! T just in case. Includes Cullens/wolves evnt. Bad sum, but try pl
1. Premonitions

Prologue: Premonitions

They were lying, dead and broken on the floor. All of them. A sea of other bodies surrounded them, all as lifeless as the next. A group of pale-skinned, red-eyed men stood in one corner of the room, surveying the mess. One spoke, his voice muddy and indistinct. The world blurred, shifting to a new setting. A brightly lit room, dozens of the same beautiful, crimson eyed people standing in loose groups. An ancient man beckoning for me to come closer. Welcome to the Voltouri, dearest. The dead bodies facing me, bloodless skin dripping from angered corpses. Peyton. Oh, God, no, not Peyton. Please, please, no, no, no. Anyone but Peyton. Mommy and Daddy there too, oh God! dead, all of them. No, no, no. Walking toward me. How could this, Oh God! I was next wasn't I? God, God, God, take me, take me, oh but spare Peyton, anything to bring him back. No. Oh no. The paper-skinned man bending toward me. Peyton! No, oh, oh, oh, please, leave us be. Peyton standing next to me. Oh God, Peyton! Am I dead or you alive?? Oh, please no. Burning pain, surging through me, the man gripping me with his teeth of all things. Please, please, please just give Peyton his life back. My brother's hand on my shoulder, shaking me. Emmy, Emmy, no, wake up, please, what's wrong Emmy? Peyton? But you were dead! Oh Peyton! Floating away in the fire in my veins. Save Mommy and Daddy, will you? Emmy, what are you talking about? Oh, God, they're dead already, aren't they. No, no, no!  
Emmy, please stop, what are you talking about? Drowning, falling through the black waters, Peyton disappearing from my view. Emmy! So far away now. Even the ice-black water cannot quench the flames. Oh, Dear God! Is this death? Just save Peyton, don't let him be dead too. Oh, oh, no. No, no, no, no. Fading now. Everything is so dark, all alone, floating away -

"Emmy!" His familiar voice broke through the waves of pain and ice surrounding me. My eyes flew open and I sat straight up, gasping. He held me close. "Oh, God, Emmy. You were scaring me. Oh, Em, oh, Em." he murmured, rocking me back and forth in his strong grip. The hotel room was dark, the bedclothes wrapped awkwardly around my body, making me uncomfortable. Peyton held me like that for a moment more, then pulled back, anxious eyes searching my face for answers I knew I didn't have. "Emmy, little Emmy, what were you seeing?" He didn't bother to ask me what I had dreamed anymore - he knew I wouldn't answer.

I buried my head in his shoulder, feeling pathetic as tears slipped out. "You and Mommy and Daddy were, were, were all d-d-dead. And tons of other people, too. And these men, they were just standing off to the side looking at it like, like, it was so, so, so routine! And then I was standing in a different room with them and some women too, and they all had red eyes, Peyton! Red eyes! And an old man was asking me to come closer and I, I, I thought you were dead, and then I was drowning and, and, and..." I broke down into sobs, unable to bring myself to say anything more. He held me tighter, his strong arms so reassuring against my fears. My brother and I sat there for what seemed like forever, just listening to the silence.

"How often have you seen this one?" Peyton was the only one who knew about my 'talent'.

"Lots. This was the clearest its been, though."

"So, when, do you think...? Soon?"

"Yeah. Too soon. We have to make Mommy and Daddy get out of here. If we don't...We're just not safe here anymore."

"You really believe this, don't you?"

"Peyton, don't you remember the car accident?"

"The one where you told Dad to stay home because you had a cold and one of his carpooling friends called from the hospital saying they had gotten in an accident?" He was silent for a moment, thinking. "You told me the day before that you had a daydream about it. Is this the same?" His tone questioned my sanity.

I pulled away from him. "Peyton, I don't care if you think I'm crazy! You just have to trust me about this, ok? We have to get out of here!"

My adoptive brother sighed, and stood up off the edge of my bed. He glanced at the clock. It read 4:59 a.m. "Come on, Em. I'll get you a glass of water and we can watch some T. V." Poor Peyton. He put up with so much from me, and I wasn't even really his sister.

"It's all in Italian, though!" I complained.

"That's what makes it funny." He smiled, offering me his hand.

I was in the kitchen - Peyton was still in the other room trying to find a program in English - washing out my glass when the knock on the door came. I called to Peyton, "I'll get it!" I wanted to do something nice for him for once, rather than him being the one caring for me.

As I walked to the door, a warning went off in my head. I ignored it. The knocking came again, louder this time. "I'm coming!" I yelled. Sheesh! These stupid Italians! They were all so impatient!

"Hello? Who's out there?" I called through the whitewashed door.

"Polize." A gruff man's voice, heavily accented, replied.

Oh shit! What could the want? I opened the door, and came face to face with two pale, red eyed men in police uniforms. I froze.

"We would like to speak to your parents. Are they in?" The one who had spoken before asked.

"Uh." I said, scared out of my mind.

"We would really like to speak with them." The man said again.

I concentrated as hard as I could, pulling together what bravery I still had. "Yeah, hold on, let me go get them. They're still asleep." I whispered. The men both nodded.

I ran into one of the back rooms of our suite. Mommy and Daddy were asleep under the covers of their bed. "Daddy! Daddy!" I called, startling them both awake. "Daddy, the police are here and they said they want to talk to you and Mommy. They didn't tell me what they want. I don't think you should go talk to them."

"Don't be silly, Emily!" Mommy said groggily. "I'm sure they're fine."

"No, you don't understand! I, I don't think they're actually cops! I think they want to kill you!" I whispered, feeling ridiculous.

Daddy got out of bed and put a firm hand on my shoulder. He got down on his knees to look me in the eyes. "Now, Emily, honey, your mother and I understand that you went through some very serious trauma as a little girl before we adopted you, but these men are here to help us. You have to try to get past your fears, Em."

"Daddy, please! Something is very wrong with them!"

"Emily! That's enough! Now we're going to go talk with them and you'll see that everything is just fine!" He and Mommy stood and started for the hotel room's front door, walking past me without even glancing in my direction. Like they were in a trance.

I ran out of the room, sobbing. Peyton caught me as I flew into the living room. "Emmy! What's wrong?!"

"My-my d-d-dream is coming true again! The people that just came to the door are going to kill them and you and probably me too, but Daddy won't listen!"

"Em, calm down! I'm sure everything is fine. It was only a dream after all."

I flung myself down on the couch, near hysterics. "You're all going to DIE because you just won't listen to me!" Peyton pulled me into another hug, but I refused to listen to him, wallowing in my fear and pain.

Minutes or hours later, I didn't know, I heard Daddy call out. "Peyton, come here, they would like to talk to you, too." Peyton rose, his eyes slightly glazed over, pushing me roughly aside. I fought to hold on to him.

"Peyton, no, please don't go! Please listen to me!" He pushed me off without a word and strode out of the room. I collapsed on the floor, my tears rolling silently down my cheeks, burning like fire as they went. Sometime later the two men walked in. They faced me.

"Come with us." The gruff man who had spoken to me first said. I shook my head vehemently.

The second man spoke for the first time, his voice musical and beautiful. I felt calm spreading over me. I fought it. "Dearest, please come with us."

"I will not!" I cried.

"Aro will not be pleased with her." Man number one said. Dimly, I realized that he was speaking in English. That was odd. Shouldn't Italian police speak in Italian.

"Quite to the contrary, I think. He will want to change her."

"You're probably right."

"I know I'm right."

"I'm NOT GOING WITH YOU!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I had no idea what he ment by 'change her' but I didn't want to find out. The men laughed and walked over to me. Then the world went black.

**AN: Yay! this is by far my favorite fanfiction that I've written so far. It gets better, so please keep reading and reviewing! And yes, the begining is really OOC, but I promise, it will get more Twilight-y later on. Oh, and I don't own any of the character's that appear in the twilight series. Just in case you wanted to know. XD**

**-BMTW**


	2. Circles

1: Circles

The methodic, back and forth motion of the broom in my hands was soothing. Sweeping the front entrance was one of my few jobs that I actually enjoyed, and mostly because, well, it was one of the few times I could just shut down and not think. I could just loose myself in the gentile motion of my arms. I know it sounds weird to say, but thank God I was on housekeeping duty. I could have been put in what they so charmingly called the "dining room" and be forced to clean up after their "meal". I shuddered. Just think about the sweeping. Just the sweeping.

I was so out of it, that I didn't hear him come up behind me. Maybe I wouldn't have had anyway. They were all so damn quiet when they wanted to be. And invisible. Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to watch one of _them_ walk from one end of a room to the other? It's damn near impossible! Either way, when I felt his icy hands grab me and spin me around, I screamed, shutting my eyes tightly.

"Ha! You do that every time!"

I didn't have to open my eyes to tell who my attacker was. "Damnit, Johnathain! Get your hands off me!"

I sensed him leaning in close, still holding my arms behind my back. I couldn't tell whether he was standing behind me or in front. It didn't really matter. "Why should I? Convince me."

I opened my eyes, glaring into his red ones. So he was in front. "Aro won't like it if I'm 'damaged goods' and he has to wait even longer to change me."

"Aro won't miss one pathetic human like you. At least, not for very long."

"You wouldn't."

"Ah, but that's just it, love. I would so enjoy killing you. I could so easily, too."

"Try it and see how long you live."

He leaned forward and licked my neck with his ice cold tongue. "You know, I think I just might." Johnathain bit down gently on my exposed vein.

"Stop it! Stop!" I screamed, struggling futiley to get away from him. He just laughed and bit down harder. Damnit! This was not how I was going to die!

"Johnathain, you lowlife, stop that this instant." Gianna stood there glaring at him. You go, girl! He backed away from me slowly. Gianna may have been nothing more than a pathetic human to him, but she had connections, and if she witnessed my death, she would ensure his. Or, at least, that's what I hoped. More likely, she couldn't care less if I lived or not, but she didn't want to get blamed for deaths on her watch. "Johnathain, Jane just called in to say that she's bringing a visitor. I will not clean up after you. Go. Get out of my sight."

"You'll pay for this, Gianna. Mark my words." He said as he scampered off, licking my neck one last time.

"Scum!" I called after him. Gianna slapped me across the face, hard enough to snap my head back.

"Do not insult him like that! You should be honnored to even stand in one of their presence." Man, this lady is screwed up. I think she actually wants the Voltouri to turn her. Sadistic freak. As if she guessed what I was thinking, she slapped me again. "Do not think that just because you are Aro's little favorite that I will not treat you exactly as you deserve. Finish this hall and then report back to me for your next set of duties."

I replyed, "Yes ma'am." Which earned me another slap. Jeez! What was with her and the violence?

"Do not be insolent to me!" she barked and stomped off. I stuck my tongue out at her, feeling like a five-year-old but still a little bit satisfyed.

I resumed the sweeping, easily clearing my head. I knew that some of them could read minds, or emotions, at least, and I prided myself on remaining invisible. After nearly three years of practice, I could, most of the time, block my thoughts from being read. It was usefull, and the ablity saved me a lot of troubble with Aro. If he wants to see what I'm thinking, go ahead. I won't stop him. He just won't find out anything that he doesn't already know. Hahaha.

As usuall, I finished the sweeping too soon. I had been extra carefull to sweep up every last bit of dirt I could find, and it still didn't take long enough. Sighing, I grabbed the woodden shaft of the broom and carried it with me back to Gianna. Her bedroom/office was the first thing in the hallway, so I didn't have far to go.

"Gianna!" I knocked lightly on her door. Didn't want to get in troubble for making too much noise, now, did I?

The door swung open, and a face popped out. But to my surprise, it wasn't Gianna who was now staring at me. It was Aro.

"Emily! How nice to see you!" He opened the door further, and I worked furriously to block my thoughts. Just in time, too, because he reached out and enfolded me in a hug, with his ancient, paper skin. That's the one thing I like about Aro. He isn't all hard and made of unbreakable marble like the rest of them. He's...I don't know, he's shale, I guess. Still a rock, but somehow softer. He broke away, his lips split into a grin. "Gianna and I were just talking about you! Don't just stand there like that! Come in! Come in!" He ushered me past him, excited as a kid at Christmas. Gianna was standing not far behind him, a look of utter pain and annoyance all over her face. This should be fun.

"Hello Aro, Gianna." I was carfull to keep my voice polite as I nodded at them respectfully. It was making me sick.

"Emily." Gianna said, glaring at me. Oooo, big, tough girl, are we now. My jaw was aching with the force of the biting remarks I was holding back. Aro turned to me and smiled again.

"Emily, dearest, I was just saying to Gianna how glad I am to have you here! Don't you agree, Gianna?" It looked like the last thing she would ever agree to, but she nodded anyway. "Anyway, you no doubt have heard that we have a guest coming to stay with us today. He really hasn't specified ho long his stay will be, but I'm sure it won't be too long." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Whatever the case may be, I would like to ask you a favor. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

Aro smiled like he had just won the lottery. "Wonderful! Emily, my darling, I would greatly appriciated it if you could remain inside your suite for the duration of our guest's stay. Can you do that?"

I shrugged. I would rather be in my suite anyway, than around all of you. But I didn't say that. Instead, I smiled, nodded my head politely and asked to be excused. Aren't I the greatest?

I made my way back to my room, or well, rooms actually, dodging the ocational passerby. They were all human, thank God. I don't know if I could survive another run-in with Johnathain.

I was in my room, a few hours later, fiddeling around on my computer, when it happened. Funny thing, actually. Aro denied me nothing except my freedom. He said I could have that after I was changed and no longer a threat to humans, but not now. I wonder why, exactly, he was so ancious to see me one of them. He couldn't know about _that, _could he? I sat for a minute, my brain heavier than usual, going around in circles trying to find the answer. No such luck. A thick fog of legarthy washed over me, and I found myself giving in, fading away into the sleep that so suddenly claimed me.

**AN: Ok, so from here on is where it starts to relate to twilight. This story takes place during the end of New Moon, and also the end of Eclipse. I hope you keep reading and enjoying my work! Please review, it makes me so happy. (insert ditzy looking smilie here...) I don't own any of the characters, except for dear old Johnathain and Emmy! Enjoy!**

**-BMTW**


	3. Ancient History

2: Ancient History

_Thick, deep brown hair swirled around her. The icy paleness of her skin was visible even in the dark. She turned, her eyes skimming across something I couldn't make out. Her eyes met mine, for a moment, then looked right through me, even though I was right next to her. The darkness around us was palpable - thick, like crushed velvet, and heavy enough that it constricted my breathing. _

_A light exploded on, above our heads, and the girl next to me hissed, her scarlet eyes narrowing for a moment before they adjusted. I tore my eyes away from her face long enough to glance at what she was staring at. The sight made me turn away, choking back the bile that was threatening to rise up my throat._

_"Bella." A voice, as velvety as the darkness, whispered, shock and sadness in every syllable. It was a male voice, and one that was somehow familiar to me._

_Then the girl spoke, and her voice captivated me. It was the voice every mother longed for, the voice that made everything okay. "Edward. I can't... I have to, Edward. You have to understand. I need to do this."_

_"Bella...Are you sure?" I turned around, searching for him. There, by the door, stood a boy - he couldn't be much older than me. In the blink of an eye, he was at the girl's, Bella's side. His skin was just as pale, familiar in it's snowy shade. How many of them had I seen in my life? I wonder breifly. But something is different about him, and it takes me a minute to figure it out. His eyes are liquid gold, not red, not evil. He is one of them, but some how, different._

_He stood behind her for a few moments, silently assesing the situation. She didn't seem to be able to look at him._

_Edward sighed, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want me to stay?"_

_"No! I mean...I...I can't let you see me like this...I...It's just-"_

_"I understand, Bells. I went through the same thing. I'll be at the house when you're ready." He turned and left, and I swear, if he could cry, he would have. The girls face was in pain, but I could see gratitude all over it and...love? _

_She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she was different. Less in controll. She stalked forward, to the other side of the room, to her victim._

_He was a young man, sitting on the couch, silent fear in his eyes. But disbelief, too. He thought this was a dream, I could tell. That poor, poor man. He had no idea._

_She closed on him, the need sparkling in her eyes, pressing her lips against his throat._

I woke gasping, tears of sweat rolling down my skin. I was shaking. I stood, walking over to my mini fridge - courtesy of Aro - and yanked out a can of pop, pressing it to my burning forhead. Laying back on the bed, staring at the dark celing, I tryed to clear my head of what I had just seen.

My thoughts slippped, almost involuntarlily, to the first time I had ever had a vision. I was nine years old, and had been having nightmares about a man killing my mother. Every morning, for about two weeks, I told her about them. Every morning, she sent me to school, assuring me that there was nothing to worry about.

Then, one day, I climbed off the bus, walked inside, and found her dead. I called the police and sat by her side, waiting, crying, numb.

It turned out that the police had caught the man who had killed my mom - for speeding. The next six months of my life were spent in and out of courts and foster homes. Then, a family, wonderful people, really, adopted me.

And then, the dreams started again.

At first, they were about random people, and I thought it was just tramua. Then the news started reporting deaths. They were always the people I had seen in my dreams. The visions started changing then, becoming more frequent, coming when I was awake. They weren't always about death, but those were the ones that would always come true. I could usually see the weather, and sometimes just random people talking in malls.

Once I started having death-visions about my new family, I left. By that time, I was almost eleven, and I felt I was ready to deal with life on the street. Boy, was I wrong. After a month of fending for myself and fighting off creeps, I ran to the police. I told them what happened - minus my visions - and they brought me back to my family.

A year later, we were in Italy, celebrating our family-ness. Then the Voltouri came and Aro decided that he wanted to screw with my life. That night was the last time I had a vision.

Untill now.

**AN: This is just kind of a filler chapter. I did kind of need to explain Em's history so the story makes sense. I promise things will start to get interesting next chapter.**

**Oh, and thanks to every one who has read this, and thanks to my reviewers! **

**On that note, I won't post the next chapter untill I get a few reviews. I need to know what you think of this!! so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**

**Oh, and I'm sorry if the first few chapters are a little confusing, I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen!**

**I don't own the Twilight series! Meyer does!**

**-BMTW**


	4. Chocolate Angels

3:Chocolate Angels

Loud knocking on my door startled me, causing me to jump up and drop the pop I was holding. It hit the hardwood floor and exploded, sending fizzy brown liquid everywhere. I was drenched, the computer was drenched, the carpet was drenched - my whole room would smell like Coke for a month. I sighed exasperatedly, sprinting to my bathroom to get some towels.

The knocking continued, uninterupted as I mopped up as much as I could. I sighed, lying back down across the bed. "Come in!" I yelled, in the general direction of the door.

The door opened to reveal a fatherly-looking man, carrying a huge tray of food. He smiled at me, his swarthy skin making his teeth seem even whiter. "Somehow I knew you would need comfort food, Em." He chuckled, setting the tray on my dripping desk.

"Hey, Paolo." Paolo was like a dad to me - he had been ever sence I came here. He was one of those super kind, over bearingly protective, would-have-been-hansome-if-he-wasn't-your-dad types. He was also the chef Aro had hired for us humans. Only the best for his pets. Paolo's been a prisoner here longer than anyone I know. He was Spanish, born in Spain but raised in the U.S. His accent was barely detectable.

He sat down next to me, surveying the Coke-splattered room. A drip rolled off the celing, landing on his forhead. His thick eyebrows shot up, and he turned to me. "Uh, Em? What did you _do_?"

I groaned and rolled over, burring my head, ostritch-style, in the covers. "I'm a clutz."

"Emmy, honey, you know I can't hear you."

Sitting up, I looked at him. "So, what's with the food?" Paolo chuckled, tousliling my hair, and handed me a bowl of chocolate-covered raspberrys. "Oh, you didn't!" I grinned, "Not just for me?" He nodded. "Thank you!" I yelled, throwing my arms around him.

"Calm down! Jeeze! You would think that I just gave you a diamond, or something."

"You practically did." I said, popping one of the fruits in my mouth, savoring the sweetly-sour flavor. He just rolled his eyes and looked off into the distance, his smile begining to look plastic. After a few minutes of silence, I spoke up. "So, Paolo, what really is the agenda behind all this?" I waved at the tray of my favorites.

"Is there a camera in this room?" He asked.

"What?! Why?" That was completely out of the blue.

"Just answer the question."

"No! Of course not! Do you think that Aro would let his little favorite be spyed on?" I spat, hatred in my voice.

"And you're positive?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." He pulled a large, yellow, industrial-sized envelope out from under the plates on the tray. "This, Emmy," He said in a hushed voice, waving the envelope in the air, "is your ticket out of here."

I gasped, unsure of what I heard. "What do you mean, that's my ticket out of here?"

"Well, I -" He began, before a soft knock at the front door startled us both. My bedroom is actually in the back of my suite, along with the bathroom. The main living area and kitchen and TV and stuff were all in the room that connected to this one. Most of the suites in this building had just the front door, but because mine connects to the servants hallway, I had the door in my bedroom as well. At first I had been frightened that someone might break in and, well...But after a while, I got used to the fact that no one would bother me - Johnathain was the exception. Being Aro's pet did have its perks. Paolo was the only one who used that door, and only in emergencys.

Now, however, the pounding was coming from the main hallway, so I assumed it had to be the Voltouri. Paolo had the same thought.

He looked at me urgently, shoving the envelope under my matress as the knocking grew more insistant. _Keep it hidden._ He mouthed. Paolo shot one angry look at the door before continuing on, this time aloud. "Well, Emmy, I guess that's my cue to leave. Enjoy breakfast, and come visit me down in the kitchens later. There's something I want to show you."

"Sure Paolo. You know that I love the kitchens." Even to myself, my words sounded false.

"Good girl." He replyed, so naturally that a wave of envy - his acting skills were incredible - washed over me.

"Keep your nose clean, kid." Paolo said, in way of our usual goodbyes.

"Same goes for you, Master Chef. Wouldn't want anything falling in the soup." He ruffled my hair, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. My heart skipped a beat as my intuition flickered. Something was going to happen to him.

I quickly closed down on the tears threatnening to escape me. It was probably one of _them_ at the door, and I didn't want Aro to hear about it and get suspicious. Without a backwards glance, Paolo rushed out the door, as I rushed to let my visitor in. Is my privacy no longer respected or something? What was with all these people disturbing me today? I glanced absently at my watch. Five am. Joy. And, on top of everything, I was still in Coke-soaked PJ's. This is my life.

Sighing, I pulled open the door, expecting one of _them_ to come tell me that I had two hours before I was needed for my duties, please and thank you.

What I got was Aro.

"Hello there, dearest!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands. Aro often reminded me of a five year old. I wonder if living so long has messed with his brain.

"Hello Aro." I quickly gathered myself, walling my thoughts inside my own head. "Would you like to come in?"

"Of course! Thank you for being so courtious!" He bounded into the room, gathering me up in a hug. When he pulled away, he had an almost mystifyed look on his face. "Curriouser and curriouser." He murmered, his ever-present smile dipping for a moment.

What on Earth? What did that have to do with anything? Did I slip and let him see something? "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't catch that. Human ears and all." I tried to make my smile bright, but it didn't feel right.

"Oh, nothing that concerns you, Emily, dear."

Ooookay. Coughsenilecough. I thought to myself. "Please, do sit." I'm and angel, right? Aro sat on the cream-colored couch, patting the spot next to him. Inwardly, I sighed. The things I do to stay alive. Taking my place next to him, I asked, "What can I do for you? I mean, I would ask if I could get you something to drink, but that conversation might get a little ackward." I smiled. Jeeze, I should be an actress.

"Indeed it would." His eyes traveled down my face to my neck. His eyes focused on my pulse points. I'm sure he could hear, as well as see my hearbeat accelerate. His bright crimson eyes darkend to burgundy, and his breathing stopped. Frozen, I waited for him to continue the conversation, painfully aware of how close my life could be to ending. Finally he looked back into my eyes, his presence suddenly far more sinister than I was used to.

"No, these are not conversations for today." He speculated for a moment, before adding, "But soon, dearest, we will discuss your turning."

"Not for a while, or one should hope." I tried to hide my nervousness.

"Why are you so adverse to the idea, my darling Emily? Eternal life. Eternal youth."

I was silent. I could not truthfully say that those things did not appeal to me. I also could not say that I wasn't currious about _their_ lives, or whatever they choose to call them.

"Why are you here, Aro?" I snapped, finally loosing patience with his games.

Aro's smile returned. "Why for you! I came to tell you that our...guests left late last night. They didn't stay half as long as I thought they would. Pity. I would have loved to catch up."

I remembered something he had said yesterday. "I thought there was only going to be one of them." Whoever they were, anyway.

"Yes...I wasn't aware the other two would be accompaning him. Not that it makes a difference." He grinned. "Lovely children of my dear old friend Carlile. I do hope they'll take me up on my offer to join us."

Great. He wanted to make more innocent humans into leeches to add to the family. I couldn't help but wonder, _If Aro has so many new _family_ members, then what does he need me for?_ My thoughts unwillingly traveled back to his eyes on my throat.

"Emily?" His voice snapped me back to the present.

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts." I bowed my head, the epitome of embarrasement.

"It happens to us all, dear." Aro's childlike grinn came back to life. "Oh, I almost forgot! Fencing Instructor Emerila is back in town, and I signed you up for her class! I remember how much you enjoyed her class last time!" His face was just begging for a jumping-up-and-down-screaming reaction.

__

I

wanted to beat my head against the wall. Emerila. Why, oh why did it have to be her. I loved fencing. Adored it. Almost obsessed over it. But that evil...woman. She had to be the meanest creature on this planet, and I have met some evil creatures. Instead, I smiled, hugged Aro, thanked him very much, walked with him to the door, and wished him a nice day.

"You have a very good day too, dear. But remember, we'll talk soon." He smiled on his way out.

Shutting the door behind him, I made my way to my bed, and lay face down.

"Can my life get any worse?"

The answer was yes. Yes it could.

**AN: Ok, so a pretty long chapter . This was supposed to be two chapters, but then it would just be two small chapters that made no sense to seperate. Don't you want to read more? Are you begging? Well then REVIEW! I would like at least two reviews for this chapter/story before I add the next chapter, please. Thanks for reading! **

**BTW, thanks to everyone who is giving this story a chance. I really appriciate it! **

**Remember, please, please, please let me know if I start writing really confusing stuff. Sometimes it's hard to remember what I've written and what I haven't!**

**Oh, and I'm really sorry that I've added this same chapter three or four times now! grinns sheepishly I'll try not to do that again. (I actually finally figured out how to work the computer!! kind of.)**

**I don't own any characters except Emmy, Paolo and anyone else who doesn't appear in the Twilight series! the rest belongs to Meyer! I just get this particular story!**

**-BMTW**


	5. Spiraling Downward

5: Spiraling Downward

Servant's stairs are a cruel joke, designed by some ego-tripping dictator who thought it would be absoulutly hilarious to have his poor, barely paid workers break their necks going down them. So narrow that a cat could barely fit in there, let alone a human, and so steep there was practically no point in having stairs, they_ spiraled _down several stories before decending into the hottest part of the building. I can't imagine how Paolo ever managed to climb these carrying food. Thank God that I have good balance, because these stairs were threatening to send me to the hospital.

It was about two weeks after the fatefull morning visit from Paolo. I had been down to the kitchens every day looking for him, and no one could tell me where he was. One guy said he had taken a vacation. The enevelope he had given me was still unopened, shoved under my matress, festering in the back of my mind. It wasn't like Paolo to just throw something at me, then not even come back to explain it. A little voice in the back of my head whispered that he might not be around to explain anything, but I shoved it away. I would have seen if anything bad was going to happen. _Maybe not_. The voice whispered. It was true - I hadn't had a vision, or whatever they were, in about three years. The suddenly one of some random person I don't even know. So maybe I wouldn't have known it.

By the time I reached the kitchens, I was sweating and dizzy. It was warmer up here than it normally was, and it didn't help that there were absolutly no windows or vents. I took a moment to steady myself - it would be horribly embarrasing to pass out - before opening the door.

What greeted me was chaos.

Dozens of people, clad in white smocks, swarmed everywhere in the steam filled room. A woman who looked to be about sixty, was standing on a chair, yelling directions at the workers. I wasn't close enough to her to understand what she was saying, though I recognised it as Spanish. Men and women, of all different nationalities were hustling around the room, prepairing food. Several of them were clustered around a counter, blocking it from my view.

Pushing my way through the croud, I made my way to the woman who looked like she was in charge. As I got closer, I could see why she was on a chair - she was shorter than I was! Her face had a tired, stressed look to it. She reminded me of a grandmother. I had origionally planned on looking for Paolo, but something told me that I wasn't going to find him any time soon. A plan started forming in my head, in light of that revalation.

"Excuse me!" I shouted, over the noise, in Spaninsh, "Can I speak to you for a few minutes?"

"WHAT?!" She yelled back.

"Can I speak with you?!"

"Yes! Come here!" She motioned to the door, and I followed.

The woman led me out of the kitchens, and into a quiet little room filled with tables and desks. A computer took up one whole corner of the room, while an air projector was pointed in the direction of a rolled up screen. Soft piano music tinkled from hidden speakers. This was how most of the Voltouri's 'home' was decorated. Soft, elegant, relaxing. A stark contrast to the very natures of the beings who lived here.

The woman took a seat at one of the round tables in the room, motioning for me to do the same.

"Do you speak English?" I asked her. I was fluent in Spanish - courtesy of Paolo - but I had to ask anyway.

"Yes, actually." She smiled tightly, her eyes wary of me.

"That's a releif. I can speak Spanish, but not all that well." She nodded her agreement. I deliberated for a moment, then stuck out my hand. "I'm Emily." Last names were something I had learned never to give out.

"Francessca Rivera. You're here about Paolo, aren't you?"

Wow, she was blunt.

"Yeah."

"I've seen you come looking for him every day."

"Yeah."

"Do you have any clue as to what's happened?" Her tone was accusing.

"What do you mean?"

"Because of you, Marcus...well...took a _disliking_ to Paolo."

"You mean...Is he one of them?" I couldn't bring myself to ask the real question. I already knew the answer.

She looked shocked. "No! Never! Marcus decided he was expendable."

I couldn't help the anguished cry that tore out of me. I knew it was coming, I knew it. And yet there I was, sobbing in front of some woman I'd never met. She made no effort to consoll me. She just sat there glaring at me, her eyes as cold as ice.

"You didn't even know him, truly, and yet you cry for him." Her words were angry, hatefull.

I took a breath, locking away the pain, the tears. I could go to pieces later, alone. When I finally looked up at her, my glare was one to rival her's. "Paolo was the only person I trusted, as long as I've been here. He was like a father to me."

Rivera looked like she was about to be sick. "You barely knew him! You didn't even know his surname! You are no kin to him!"

"I might as well have been!"

"That man was my brother! And you're the one responsible for his death!"

"I did nothing! I would have protected him with my life!" The heat of my anger was too distracting to really process her words.

She stood, the hatred eminating from her almost palpable. Her fist connected with my face, so fast I didn't have time to see it coming. The force of the blow snapped my head back, almost knocking me out of my chair.

"How _dare _you say such things! How dare you lie to me that way! You can never know the pain you have caused me by your _existance_!" In her anger, Rivera slipped back into Spanish, screaming curses at me at the top of her lungs.

I kept my head down, letting the tears flow freely now, steeling myself for more blows. I was aware of her fists pummeling me again, and again, hiddious oaths flying from her lips, but I was beyond pain or hearing. All I could see, all that went through my head, was Paolo, trapped in that death-chamber that _they_ called a 'dining room.' Disgusting, evil, bloodsucking _parasites_! They've ruined my life for the last time, I swear it.

For Paolo, for everthing he'd done for me, for all the people I'd loved, for all those I've seen die, I will escape, and I _will_ find a way to bring down the Voltouri.

**AN: Yay! Thank you so much to every one who has reviewed (i know, im lame to get excited over like 5 reviews, but whatever XD) or read this story! You guys really make my day!**

**This is probably one of my favorite chapters I've written so far, and this is also the part of my story that I actually really like.**

**As always, please let me know if this is confusing, or you see something majorly wrong with it! And please, REVIEW! reviews always make me smile, even if they're bad, so, feedback, please!**

**I don't own anything that has to do with twilight! That's Stephanie Meyer's! I just get this story and my OC characters!**

**-BMTW**


	6. Chopsticks

6:Chopsticks

The door banged open, and Rivera paused in her onslaught for a moment, alowing me to look up. I knew that my face was a cold mask of anger. My tears had dried up, and the pain in my heart had been replaced with a cold, hard determination. I stood and pushed the woman away from me, ignoring the swarm of _them _rushing in through the door. Some one had obviously heard her screaming and called the Guard.

They hurried past me, rushing to restrain Rivera who was angrily, obsessively trying to come back towards me. One of them, a dark haired man who wasn't nearly as pale as the rest of them - African or Indonesian, maybe - walked towards me. He looked as if he was in charge, if the way the others moved away from him was anything to go by.

"What happened." His voice was deep, and thickly accented. The way his red eyes stared out at me from his light brown skin was disturbing, sending shivvers up my spine.

"Why don't you ask her." My voice was flat, cold.

"She will not speak."

"Hmm." I glanced at my nails, pretending to inspect them. I was done with trying to put on the good girl charade. "Too damn bad for you."

He growled, deep in his chest, the anger eminating from him almost palpable. It was almost enough to match my own. I stared him down, willing him to loose control, knowing that he wouldn't dare ignore an order from his boss.

"Where is she?"

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. I thought to myself. But I couldn't deny that the tone I heard in Aro's voice at the moment was enough to remind me that I was only human.

"I'm here, Aro." I called, walking around the immense and looming presence of the guard in my face. Aro looked at me from his position at the door and ran forward, his movements invisible.

He wraped his arms around me, burrying his face in my hair. "Oh, dearest. I thought I had lost you."

For an instant, I let my control on my mind slip, sending one thought towards him. _I was never yours to loose._

I pushed past him, knowing full well that he only let me go because he wanted to.

Back in my suite, I locked the doors, even though it wouldn't make a difference. I ran to the bed, pulled out the envenlope and threw it on the table in my living room.

I sat in front of it for nearly an hour, arguing with myself over the benefits of opening it. If it was enough to get Paolo killed, did I really want to take the chance of learning it's secrate? Then again, shouldn't I know what he died for?

Finally, my curriosity won out.

I opened it gently, sliding out a pile of papers and laminated documents. I went through them one by one.

ID, stating my new name: Elizabeth Hartburg.

A driver's licence.

Two birth certificates, one stating I was sixteen, and the other eighteen.

School transcript, both from Elementary and High school.

Dental records.

Proof of citizenship.

Family photos.

Land deeds. Car leases, house leases, money, checks, proof of a checking account and a savings account. Everything and anything I might need to hide my identity.

There were two copies of everything, but they were all for the U.S. Specifically Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

And on the last piece of paper, there was one word on each side, in the bottom left hand corner. Forks. Washington.

"Oh Paolo." I murmered, confused. "You give me everything I need to start over, and then you give me no where to go, just 'forks' and 'Washington'. What the hell is that supposed to mean. Forks...forks...like silverwear? Washington...the state or the city? What am I supposed to do with this?"

I shoved everything into the envelope and put it back under my matress, lying down on my bed. Forks. Washington. Forks. Washington. Forks. Forks...Forks...Spoons...Knives...Chopsticks...

I giggled almost senselessly as I slipped into a frustrated sleep.

**AN: Just kind of a filler chapter...something to pass the time between last chapter and what happens next.**

**Thanks to everyone who is reading, reviewing and giving this story a chance!**

**-BMTW**


	7. Hope and Silk

7:Hope and Silk

_Swish_. Forks. _Swish_. Washington. _Swish_. Forks. _Swish_. Washington.

This week it was my turn to mop the 'dining' room. The puzzle Paolo gave me had occupied my mind completely for the last few days, but today it was particuarly helpful in keeping my thoughts away from what I was actually cleaning. Though I must say, _they_ weren't very messy. Just a few spots of blood here and there. It was more the overwhelming sense of death all around me that was disturbing. Just the thought sent shivvers down my spine. And to think, Aro wanted me to be a part of _this_. This mindless slaughter. The leeches killed for necessity, yes, but also out of pleasure. The look in their eyes as they considered a new victim...

No. Don't even think about it. Just forks and Washington. Forks. Washington. Washing a ton of forks. Did Paolo want me to go down to the dishwashers? Somehow, I doubted that even _he_ would do something that crazy.

Forks. Washington. Washington. Forks. Washington, forks. Last name, first name. Was it a person? What kind of person would be named Forks?

Washington, Forks. Forks, Washington. Like a place name. Washington...as in the state. Forks...a town, maybe? A small town, as I had never heard of it before. Forks, WA. That actually sounds right. Maybe, just maybe.

But why had he put all of my ID papers and stuff from Chicago? Was there something he wanted me to find there?

I sighed, the sound echoing around the vast emptyness of the death-chamber, and hurried to finish the rest of the room, mopping quickly with straight bleach. Making sure I didn't miss a spot.

I hurried out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief. I haddn't realized how tense I was until I left. Still, this was nothing compaired to the first time I had walked into that damn room. Aro had insisted on showing me where they 'ate'. The instant I walked in, it felt as if I was living death a hundred thousand times over. I could hear the screaming in my ears. I had run out of the room vomiting, refusing to even go near that hallway for about two months.

Now, Aro had me working in there as often as he could. Trying to force me to get used to his plans for my non-future, I suppose. The sad thing was, it was working. I could barely feel death in there anymore, and the thought of human beings being killed was slightly less repulsive than it had been once. I could never bring myself to do something that hideous, but other's killing did not bother me half as much as it really should.

Shaking my head, I continued my hurried rush to get to my room. It seems like all I've been doing recently was running off to my room to try to figure out that dumb riddle Paolo left me. A dozen times, I thought about just giving up and taking a plane out to my little hometown in New York. A dozen times, I fought with myself, forcing my impatience back, forcing myself to keep trying to figure this out. I'm not entierly sure why the mystery of forks and Washington was so important to me. But some innate need made me keep trying to figure this out. I felt a little like I was in one of those spy movies. The only difference was, I still die if I screwed up. Maybe not at the hands of the Voltouri, or by becoming something I loathed, but somehow, I knew, if I made a mistake, I was dead. That is not the most comforting thought to go to sleep with in you head every night.

* * *

The computer whirred to life, pop-ups greeting me with friendly messages as I made my way to my favorite internet browser. I rarely ever used this computer just to look up random things - I prefered to have a reason to sit in front of the glowing screen. I had to put four hours a day into corraspondence-school, and YouTube and itunes provided nessecary entertainment, but other than that, I avoided the computer with a vengance.

I typed, Forks, WA into the search engine.

Bingo.

Pages after pages showed up with official city sites, tourist sites, tourist reviews, Wikipedia, Myspace and Facebook profiles. Sharp black letters screaming the town's existance. I sat back, floored, releif sweeping through me. For the first time in what felt like forever, I had hope. I didn't have to wake up in the morining and wonder if Aro had gotten too impatient to wait to change me. I didn't have to wake up here at all, if I didn't want to. I had every thing I needed to start my life over, and now I had a place to go.

I clicked through a few sites, learning all I could. It was, as I'd assumed, a small town, with a very small population, rainy - it rained there more than any other place in the U.S., located on the Olympic Peninsula, almost an hour away from Seattle, and without an airport. That was going to be a problem. It also had quite a few small houses out for rent, as well as tons of hotels.

After another few minutes of searching, I reluctantly shut off the computer. Overwhelmed, I took a deep breath, steadied myself, grabbed the envelope full of fake documents, sat at my dining table, and started to plan.

A while later - I had no idea how long it had been, as I had been too busy too really keep track of time, there was a soft knock at my door, interupting my fevered plotting.

I ignored it, hurredly replacing the papers back in their hiding place, just in case it was Aro, and he decided that locked doors weren't a deterrent. Which, if I really had to admit it, they weren't. Not when you were surrounded by a bunch of superhumanly strong, mythical, undead beings.

The knocking grew louder, more insistant. I put my head down, waiting for it to stop, and the person on the other side to either leave, or knock the door down.

A soft, low, frustrated growl echoed off the walls of the hallway, indicating who my unwanted visitor was. I sighed, waiting for Aro to come barging in, uninvited. Instead, a soft scraping sound caught my attention. I looked up, unsure of what was going on, and glanced at the door. I was about to look away, when movement caught my eye.

Someone - Aro - was sliding a note under my door, carefully keeping it from folding. I waited untill I was sure he was gone before going to retreive it.

It was a fancy, cream colored invitation, bound with a gilded silk ribbon. Decorative black ink swirls decorated the edges of the heavy paper, intricate loops and vines creating an elegant - but slightly creepy - border. It was small, like a wedding invitation, and a red ink seal held the bottom edge closed.

Breaking the seal, I slid the ribbon off, opening the folded card inside.

Curling, elegant Gothic letters swirled around the page, art in the form of words. Forcing myself to look past the complex lettering, I read the note. _My dearest Emily,_ it began:

I am so soory that I have offended you. As you refuse to allow me to speak with you in your rooms, I would like to invite you to tea with me tomorrow at noon, so I may apologise. I would also like to use this as an opportunity to discuss your becoming a vampyre and joining our family. I hope you have a wonderful evening, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

With all my love,

Aro

I groaned in dismay. Discuss my 'becoming a vampire' ment he was actually planing on going through with my change.

My heart jumped at the word. I knew I shied away from saying it, intentionally, and it disturbed me greatly that Aro would be so frank as to shove it in my face. It ment he was getting desperate.

I tossed the invitation on one of my stove burners, lighting it. As the card burned, I noticed the clock on the wall, above the flames. 5:58 pm. Eightteen hours before I was no longer myself.

I had to get out of here, and fast.

**AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, writer's block and all that.**

**Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, and giving this story a chance!**

**The next chapter should be up by tomorrow, Monday at the latest!**

**I don't own anything that appears in the Twilight series! Stephanie Meyer does! I just get this particular story and my OC's!**

**As always, please tell me if I've made huge mistakes or am writing something confusing! This chapter, I was trying something new with my writing style, but I'm pretty sure I did okay. Thanks for all your help!**

**Review's Please!**

**-BMTW**


	8. Lost Soul

8:Lost Soul

I waited untill two a.m. to make my escape.

The lost souls hour, the deepest part of the night, just before dawn started to break over the horizon.

The title seemed fitting for me.

I had shoved a few clothes and posessions, along with my fake identification papers, into an unused bookbag that somehow had ended up in my closet. The bag was a flat, matte black, reflecting so little light that it seemed to be nothing but an empty hole on my floor, lying crumpled where I tossed it as I dressed in my darkest clothes. Black sneaker-boots that laced their way up my calves, black skiny jeans, a black turtle neck, black velvet driving gloves, and black makeup to top it all off - completely unnessecary, but fun, never the less. My blonde hair was a problem. Falling to the middle of my back, it reflected all too much light, and there was no way I was cutting it. My hair was part of who I was.

After a lot of thought, I figured it out. Diging through the stuff in the back of my closet, I found a black scarf, black hose, a needle, and some black thread. Some sewing and cutting later, I had a black robber's mask, the eyeholes covered with black hose. Kind of dorky and cliche, but I was beyond caring.

Putting the ensamble on, I examined myself in the floorlength mirror in my bathroom. The whole effect was exactly what I was going for - pitch black, perfect for blending in with the night. I knew it wouldn't help much - _they_ could see in the dark - but it would help to keep attention off me, at the very least.

I lay down in bed, all my clothes still on, but sleep evaded me. Eventually, I pulled out my ipod - another present from Aro - and turned the volume all the way up, listening to song after song, not even listening to the lyrics anymore, just trying to let the pounding, shattering beats erase the tension I felt building in the pit of my stomach.

When the music became too much for me, suffocating me, drowinding who I was, I ripped the headphones out, looking urgently too the clock. A half hour untill I could safely leave. I paced for the last thirty minutes, back and forth in front of my window. I had decided that climbing out my second story window was the best plan, even if it was predictable, because the rough bricks of the wall made a perfect, natural escape. If I fell, though...I just was going to have to not fall.

Finally, the time for my escape came.

I removed my gloves to give myself a better grip, and climbed out the window, onto the rough brick wall, making sure to avoid other windows as I went down.

Each time I moved, I was dangerously close to falling, my feet or hands slipped several times, and I found myself flailing silently, trying to regain my grip. Every time I moved down, searching blindly for my next handhold, or foothold, my balance was shifted, and I was forced to dig my fingernails into the brick, blistering and bruising my hands. I pushed the pain back, acknowledging it but ignoring it at the same time. Avoiding the windows made it harder to keep my balance, forcing me to crawl sideways along the brick, rather than straight down.

It seemed to take hours to get only halfway down.

I stopped to rest on a brick that stuck out a little farther than the rest, providing a tiny ledge for me to brace my weight on, alowing me to catch my breath. I had been through some strenious exercise, especially with fencing, but I was pushing myself to the limit here. I made a promise to myself, standing in the dark, fifteen feet off the ground, to climb things more often, just in case I ever got stuck in this position again. You know, just if, by some random twist of fate, I ended up, oh, I don't know, maybe climbing down a thirty foot wall, dressed as a robber, running for my life from a dangerously unbalanced vampire who wanted to change me into one, too, I'd be ready. Just a thought there.

The thing that was so sad about all of this, though, was that I knew Aro really did love me, in his own way, and that made it hard to just turn my back on him. Then again, when it came between choosing my life, or his happyness...well, I'm going to choose my life.

I sighed, trying to clear my head for the last half of the wall. I couldn't afford to be distracted now.

As I moved one of my feet, searching in the darkness for a place to put it, my other foot sliped off the narrow brick ledge, leaving me hanging by my fingertips.

I sucked in a heavy breath, trying desperately to pull myself back up. I had fallen like this once or twice before, but both times I had good handholds. Now, though, I had been counting on the little legde I had found to hold me up while I looked for another foothold, so I hadn't looked for very good handholds, just supporting myself gingerly on my fingertips, to give my hands a rest.

I felt my hands starting to slip, and flailed my legs, trying desperately, blindly, to find another place to put my feet, even to help gain momentum to get a better grip. I had no such luck.

I fell, backwards, through the seemingly endless blackness that I knew ended in hard pavement.

Holding my breath, forcing myself to shut down all the pain receptors in my brain - trying to do the same thing that I had done a million times to block Aro out, only this time, I wasn't trying to block an outside force - I put my hands out behind me, hoping to sheild my back from the fall.

I hit the ground suddenly, with no warning, and things seemed to slow down. My arms and feet hit first, hit hard, absorbing most of the shock. As the rest of my body crumpled to the ground, I felt my left arm twist un-naturally, numbly, underneith my weight. I knew it should hurt - it was probably broken - but it didn't. Nothing of my fall hurt, what should have been pain just registered as an odd itching sensation. It would be worse as soon as I let myself feel the pain.

I let myself lie on the ground for a few minutes, taking in the shock of falling a good fifteen feet onto concrete. If it wasn't so dangerous, I would do it again, just for the adrenaline rush.

What was really surprising, though, was that no one had heard my fall and was coming to see what happened. Maybe they were busy.

I stood, shaking the dust off my clothes, trying not to jostle my wrist. It was swolen, and red. Not a good sign, but I didn't have time to stop and let a doctor take a look at it. I also didn't have the time to linger in front of a Voltouri-owned building. Some one could look out the window at any time and see me.

With that thought in mind, I raced off, to the nearest bus staition.

A bus to Florence later, I was at the airport, waiting in line to buy a ticket to Seattle.

The woman at the counter looked slightly confused at my lack of luggage, my disheveled appearance, and the early hour of the moring. Regardless, she took my money - I had counted on the way here and was surprised to find almost seven thousand dollars - handed me a ticket, and pointed to the baggage check.

The next flight to Seattle left in an hour, but it took almost that long just to prove that I wasn't a terrorist.

Even so, before I knew it, I was in my seat, and settling in for an eighteen hour flight. The ticket lady had warned that I would have to change planes in Chicago, but I didn't care. I was getting out, even though a nagging voice in the back of my head insisted that I had gotten away way too easily, I ignored it. I was free. For the first time in three long years, I was free.

**AN: Yay! I can't believe I wrote two chapters last night!! It's going to be a while before I get the next chapter up...I'm having a bit of difficulty deciding what my next chapter is going to be.**

**Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and given this story a chance! You Rock!**

**Please review!**

**I don't own anything that appears in the Twilight sereies. I just get my OC and this story!**

**-BMTW**


	9. Shock

Chapter 9:Shock

My flight had been delayed almost three hours in Chicago, and I figured that I had left Italy at around four a.m., so it was nearly a full day before I landed in Seattle.

I stumbled off the plane, jet-lagged and sleep deprived. Under that, though, there was this odd, fuzzy sensation, right at the back of my mind. It felt like I was in some strange and bizzare dream, one that no matter how I struggled, I couldn't seem to wake up. Most of my life had felt like that. My world was one that belonged in stories told to little kids to frighten them, not in reality. Maybe I was just dreaming, waiting to wake up, seven years old and my mother still alive. Maybe I was just crazy, hallucenating, making up my life as some sadistic, twisted part of me wished it was.

This sudden truth struck me as I was waiting for the airport shuttle. I had only brought carry-on, so I haddn't been forced to wait for the luggage carosel to carry my -most likely ruined or robbed- bags. My money and fake documents were all carefully placed inside a small bag at my waist, weighing me down with their very presence.

When the shuttle came, I sat as far away from the other passengers as possible. They avoided me as well, taking in my appearence with haughty, frightened or pittying looks. I grimaced as I thought of what I must look like - my face ashen from pain (my arm was proving nearly impossible to ignore) and exhausted (I had slept little on my way to Seattle, adrennaline from my escape making me almost hyper), and my hair and body disheveled and dirty from the fall and the twenty one or so hours I had spent in the same clothes. That, combined with my sullen nature, broken arm, and dozens of bruises, I must have looked like I had been abused.

As a woman moved her child slightly farther away from me, I thought, _They probably think I'm on drugs._

I realized, as the shuttle pulled up to the _Hilton_, that I was going to have to find a different hotel. I would stand out like a bird among cats in this ritzy place. It wasn't that I was cheap (even though I was), but if I had learned anything in the time I had been kidnapped, it was that vampires were vain and pretentious, and they liked to have the best, even when they knew the best would draw attention to them. Even if _they_ weren't on my trail yet, I didn't want to risk running into one of the undead so soon. If I never see another vampire in my life, it will be too soon.

Fortunately, I was in the middle of the hotel district, and I could probably walk to my motel of choice. I probably could just have gotten a rental car, but I wanted to spend a day or too cleaning up and sleeping. Before I could do that, though, I would need to call a cab and get to the nearest hospital. I did not want to loose the use of my arm because I was too stubborn to get it set properly.

I sighed as I left the shuttle, noticing the driver staring openly at me. I wished I could have told him to buzz off and mind his own buisness, but I was trying to be inconspicuous. So far it didn't seem like I had been doing such a great job. I had never been very subtle. I had also never gotten of a shuttle and had thirty people stare at me as I walked down the street. I shivverd, still feeling their eyes on the back of my head. _What _was their problem?

After about ten minutes, I had found a Day's Inn, and was feeling pretty pleased with myself. It's not every day that I have to find somewhere to stay in a strange city. By myself. On the run from a dellusional leech. What is it about me that makes it impossible for me to have a normal life? I wondered, walking through the door of the hotel. One of the many questions that I hoped Forks could answer.

The lobby was almost empty, which surprised me and made me instantly suspicious. In a city this size, the hotels should be bustling. Then I remembered it was about five in the morning. With some chagrin, I made my way past the few travelers holding mugs of coffee to the front desk.

A woman who looked to be in her mid fifties, wearing an oddly bright yellow shirt, coke-bottle glasses and the midlife-crisis hair was sitting behind the long counter. The light from her computer threw odd, twisting shadows across her face.

"Are you looking for someone?" She asked, sounding bored.

For a moment I was confused, then I realized her problem. I looked like I was fifteen. Most people would be glad to look their age. I was not one of them. "Um, no. I'd like a room, please. Preferably on the second floor." I told her, my voice taking on a commanding tone. I really hoped that a second floor room was open. It wasn't so high up that I would kill myself running up the stairs - or jumping out the window - but it wasn't in danger of having some prowler climb through my window. It could happen.

She smiled patronizingly. "Sorry, hun. You have to be eighteen to get a room here. Are your parents around?"

I bit back the angry retort that was threatening to fly off my tongue. How dare she treat me like a child? I took a deep breath, forcing myself to be calm and pulled out my ID. I handed it smoothly to her. "I am eighteen. Now, I would like a room on the second floor for two nights, non-smoking. I would also like the name of your supervisor. I know it's early, but your customers should be treated with respect, no matter how young they appear."

The woman appered slightly shakken as she handed back my ID along with a room key and accepted my money. It was a hundred dollars a night. That left me at slightly over five thousand dollars in cash, plus the five hundred in each of the bank accounts that Paolo had set up for me. I was going to need to get a job when I reached Forks.

I grabbed a cup of coffee from the hotel's buffet before looking for the stairs. I passed three elevators before I could even find a staircase. Why people couldn't just build more stairs, I'll never know.

I finally made it too my room, the stairs only adding to my exhaustion. All I wanted to do was collapse on the bed and sleep untill July, but a particuarlly painfull throbb of my arm reminded me that I had one last thing to take care of. I had to find a hospital, and come up with some kind of cover story. As if I could walk in and tell the secretary '_Yes, well, I need a doctor because I broke my arm falling fifteen feet from a building. No, I wasn't pushed, I was climing down the outside in the middle of the night to escape a psychotic vampire who wanted to make me a vampire, too_.' Yea. That's one conversation that will go really well.

I sighed and opened the window's curtains. My room looked out over the glittering and modernized city. It felt so foregin to me. I was used to the ancient, dark alleyways of Italy, a whole different world in comparrison. Italy was a place where the history ran as deep as the oceans, where everything had stayed almost exactly the same for hundreds of years, where the unchanging stone of the city watched over you with near human vigilance. Seattle was new and icy and metalic and dull and clumsy. There was no grace, no elegance here. I could never see someone like Aro here. It was funny, almost - I had been so long away from my world that I no longer a part of it.

I moved over to the mirror. The bulky weight of my backpack shifted uncomfortably against my body as I moved, and I could feel every painfull heartbeat through my swolen left arm. My reflection was as frightening as I had imagined it would be. In the mirror, I looked less like the defiant, brave girl I imagined I was, and more like the scared, nieve little kid reality had proven me to be. My eyes were wide and glassy, my hair tangled and wild, one arm bound in strips of an old T-shirt and held to my chest, my clothing ripped and grimy. I looked like what I was - a walking disaster.

With a supressed groan, I eased out of my backpack and threw it on the bed. I was quickly coming up with a story, and I needed one last thing to add to my diversion. Pulling out a pair of worn tennis shoes, I ran over the basic idea of my story in my head. Rock climbing in the mountains would explain my injuries and appearance, and getting a little bit lost on my way back to my car could explain my delay for getting into the hospital. Not the best cover in the world, but it would work. It had to.

I called a cab from my room, and ran out to the street in front of the hotel to meet it. It was almost ten minutes late. I told the driver to take me to the nearest ER, expecting him to protest or ask questions, but to my surprise he didn't. My frantic voice and look must have been enough to tell him that I was in no mood for an interrogation. Or he was just as tired as I was.

The waiting area of the emergency room was silent, the people sitting in the chairs lifeless. I walked up to the young woman at the counter, and she took in my appearence with a horrified expression.

"What happened?" She asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"I was rock climing up in the mountains, and I fell and got lost for a while. My arm's broken, and I have no idea what else I injured when I fell, but if I could get in to see a doctor today, that would be great." I had no idea what to do in the ER, as I had never been in a hospital by myself before.

"Oh, of course, honey!" She exclaimed, surprise evedent in her features. "Let me get your name, hun, and I'll get the doctor to look at you as soon as I can."

"Thanks. My name's Elizabeth Hartburg."

She had me give her a few more details about my fall, and then she handed me a stack of papers to sign. "Bring these back as soon as you're done, and I'll get you right in." The woman smiled brightly at me, and I couldn't help but smile back.

After several tedious minutes of paper signing, nurses conversing frantically, and about a million maze like white halls, I found myself in a little room, a nurse preparing me for an X-ray. He manuvered the gun-thing around my arm, taking about half a dozen photos of my arm and wrist, then ushered me into a little shower-curtain partitioned area, complete with horrific, beeping instruments and moniters, and a hard, metal railed bed. Anyone who says that hospitals aren't creepy are lying.

The man sat me on the bed and told me that the doctor would come to look at me and my x-rays in a few minutes. I thanked him as he left, and looked around my little 'room', imensely weirded out. So many people had died here, and I could feel their deaths like a weight in the air, pressing down on me, suffocating me.

Just as I though I had been abandoned to die in this creepy little room, the doctor came in.

She was a middle aged, Hispanic woman, her face kindly and motherly. She was carrying a laptop, a folder of papers, and the materials for my cast. The nurse was trailing behind her.

"Hi, Elizabeth. My name is Dr. Seymore." Dr. Seymore's voice was carefull, almost cautios.

"Hi." I smiled brightly at her. Or at least, I attempted to - my arm was throbbing more than ever.

"So, I heard you fell while rock climing. Is that right?"

I grimaced. "Yea. I was up in the mountains and I wasn't planning on doing any climbing - I haddn't brought my equiptment or a partner - but I found this small outcropping of rock that looked really easy and fun to climb, so I just kind of went at it. I've been climbing for years, and I'd never fallen like this. It was kind of silly, actually, I was almost at the top - about ten, fifteen feet up, I think - and my feet slipped off the ledge I was standing on, and I fell backwards onto some rocks on the ground. I got really lucky, actually, that I didn't hit my head or anything. I think the only thing that's really injured is my arm. I landed on it with all my weight and it just kind of snapped." I shrugged like I was a little embarrased. It was easy to lie when you were telling half of the truth.

"Ouch! That sounds like a pretty painfull fall. But I was taking a look at your x-rays, and your bones have already started to set. We'll have to re-break it to make sure your bones heal the right way. When did you say this happened?"

"Yesterday, around dawn. I got lost on my way back to my car." I blushed, looking down.

"Really? Well, it's a good thing you found your way out! It can be really dangerous to get lost in these mountains. My husband and I were up there just this weekend, and we got a little lost ourselves..." The doctor continued on with her story as she looked me over, occationally pausing to lift up my shirt and look at my ribs and back, as surprised as I was that I only had bruises and a broken arm. I learned that I had snapped my arm in two places, one just below my wrist, and the other just above my elbow. My tired brain blocked out the doctors words as I decended into an exhauseted fuzz.

"Elizabeth, honey." Dr. Seymore's voice startled me back to reality.

"Yea?"

"We're going to have to re-break your arm in order to set it properly. Nurse Grey is going to give your arm some anestetic to numb the pain, but it's still going to hurt a little." I finally realized why she was talking to me like I was five. She was worried that I was in shock. I probably was.

"That's okay. I have a really high-tolerance for pain."

The woman made a little clucking noise in the back of her throat and the nurse pressed a needle into my elbow, and I watched with facination as he injected the anesthetic. They waited for a minute as numbness spread down my arm, dulling the pain to a slight ache. The doctor took my arm, and I had to look away as she twisted my arm, sliding the bones into place with a sickening crack. A wave of nausia hit me, and I lay back against the bed, shutting my eyes and fighting the pain threatening to overwhelm me. I barely noticed as they wrapped my arm in as soft, cottony cloth/gauze thing, covering that in a fiber-glass cast. I had asked for just a basic white color, so it wasn't too flashy.

I haddn't realized that I had fallen asleep untill the nurse shook my arm.

"I'm sorry to wake you, Elizabeth, but I needed to tell you that you have to come back and see me in two weeks, okay?"

"Um, I live in Forks." I answered, groggily. "Couldn't I just go to the hospital there?" I realized my mistake as soon as I said it. I didn't know if there was a hospital in Forks.

Dr. Seymore pursed her lips and looked away. "I suppose so. I know Dr. Cullen wouldn't mind..." She thought for a moment or so. "Yes, you can. I'll give you a referal to Dr. Cullen. He's actually one of the best doctors in the area. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to have a new patient. I swear that man lives for the hospital." She shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you." I said, my voice completely genuine. "Thank you so much."

The woman looked at me, surprised. "You're welcome, honey."

The bill was almost seven hundred dollars, which I paid in cash, all at once. In response to the strange looks I got, I shrugged and said, "I just cashed my paycheck." I was surprised to learn that the doctor had let me sleep for nearly three hours.

I called a cab from the hospital phone, and went to sit on the bench outside. My arm was still slightly numb, and the cast reached up to my shoulder, but even so, the pain was making me dizzy, and the pain killers they had given me had to be taken with food, so I couldn't take one untill I had breakfast.

I had been sitting there for almost five minutes before I saw her.

She was tall, with vivid red hair that shivvered and sparkled like fire in the cloudy sunlight. Her equally red eyes glared at me from the shadows of her ice-pale face. She stood, stone still, watching me. I froze, fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins, not that either one was going to help me stay alive. She made no move to advance on me, she just stood there, watching. She didn't look like one of the Guard, nor did she act like one. She didn't seem like she had any connection to the Voltouri. From the rough look of her clothing, she was probably just passing through, trying to find a good snack. Apparently, I was it.

The cab pulled up to the corner, and I darted inside, never taking my eyes off her. She didn't try to follow the cab - she just watched it as I drove away. Then she turned, a smile on her face, waved, and saunterd off. I relaxed slightly. If she wanted to kill me she would have done it already. Something clicked into place in my brain. She had probably just smelled the Voltouri's scent all over me, and stopped to check it out.

Back at the hotel, I took a quick shower, and collapsed into the bed, asleep before I hit the pillow. I couldn't afford to fall to pieces over some random leech, when I had answeres to find, places to go, things to do, and sleep to get.

**AN: Hi again! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had a very bad case of writer's block. So I made up for it with a really long and rambling chapter. Gotta love me...**

**Anyway, from here on out, I should be able to update regularly, and my chapter's will be a lot longer. Or so I hope.**

**I would really appriciate reviews and constructive criticism. I love trying to make my writing better. **

**A huge thanks to everyone who is reading and/or reviewing this story! You guys are the best!**

**I don't own anything that pertains to Twilight or the Twilight series. (I wish I did...) I just get my OC's and this story. **

**-BMTW**


	10. Breathless

Chapter 10:Breathless

The car lease Paolo had given me was for a car in Chicago. So was the house lease, and the land deed. Why he would tell me to go to Forks and then base everything I needed in Chicago, I couldn't figure out. Maybe he had wanted me to go to Chicago and then Forks.

Too late.

The next weeks had flown by like crazy. I had slept for almost thirty hours straight, and then went straight to the bus station. The bus went to Forks twice a week, and I had just made it. It was an hour long ride, and I spent the whole time fretting that I wasn't going to the right place, that I was chasing answers that just weren't there. In Forks, I found a small little condo-like cabin, with fairly inexpensive rent, and signed the contract before the man renting it had even had time to say 'sign here'. I spent the rest of my time sleeping, spazing out, trying to find a job, shoping around for a few clothes and necessities, and generally getting used to my new life.

The Thursday after I arrived in Forks - a little over a week after I had left the confines of Italy, I found out that school had another two weeks still in session, so it was fairly pointless to bother with it. I had said I was eighteen to get my condo, and in such a small town, I was sure that word traveled fast, so I didn't want to be caught entering school saying I was fifteen. Too many questions would arise from that.

I had finally gotten a job as a cashier at the local Thriftway, and was making four hundred a week. Every other day, the same people were in my line, buying the same items, making the same remarks about the weather, smiling the same knowing smiles, and welcoming me the same way into their tiny world. It was so absurdly bland. Their whole world revolved around normalicy, and here I was, an upheaval in their otherwise normal lives.

At first, this world seemed perfect for me. I was living life like a normal, single young woman - granted, everyone thought I was much older than I was, and no mythical creatures had appeared to recapture me. I was still currious as to why Paolo had sent me here, but as the days progressed I began to see that he had sent me here because it was one of the few places on Earth that was free of the bizzare mysteries that gripped the rest of the world.

I was pondering that same thought as I walked into Forks' hospital to get my arm checked.

Pushing past the revolving doors, I made my way to the front desk. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Hartburg, and I have an appointment about my arm with um, Dr. Cullen, I think." I told the secretary, holding up my cast-covered arm for emphasis.

He scrolled down on some list on his computer screen, his eyes flicking quickly back and forth. "Okay, here we are." He said, clicking on some hidden name. "Elizabeth Hartburg, broke your arm rock climbing in Seattle." He looked me up and down. "Funny, you don't really look like the type for rock climbing. Maybe cross country." He shrugged.

"Yea, it was kind of a one-time thing. I don't think that I'll be doing that again anytime soon."

He smiled up at me, his blue eyes reflecting the gray light from the windows behind me. He was actually very hansome, maybe two or three years older than me, with a strong jaw and very masculine features. His overly long blond hair fell into his eyes, and he brushed it away absently as he continued. "Your first doctor was Dr. Seymore in the American Red Cross ER. You're here for your two week check up, right?"

"That's right."

"Okay, well, you're right on time, so Nurse Smith will take you in for a few X-rays, and Dr. Cullen will be right with you." He grinned brightly at me, his teeth glittering against his lush lips. He pushed a clipboard with a safety waiver on it towards me, and as I bent to sign it, I noticed a sticky-note stuck over the signature line. His name - Christian Abernathy - and phone number were on it. I looked up at him curriously, and he winked. I felt myself blush, and I giggled automatically. Then I remembered that he was at least seventeen. Then again, I turned sixteen in August, so it wasn't that much of a difference.

Blushing, I stoped those thoughts in their tracks and signed the form, pocketing his number. Just in case, I told myself.

Christian waved over a nurse, winking at me again, and she led me into another little room and took six quick x-rays of my arm. She hit a few buttons on her computer, bringing up images of both my sets of x-rays, and breifly went over them with me, showing me where I had healed the most, and what would cause pain to my arm because of less-healed areas. It was actually pretty cool. When that was done, she led me into a little white washed room with two chairs and a bed and a dozen sleeping monitors. Ew.

She left me to get Dr. Cullen, and I sank into one of the chairs, picking absently at the edge of my cast, arguing silently with myself about Christian.

_Maybe I could call him. I mean, if he think's I'm that pretty, and he gave me his number in the middle of a hospital, we could have an actuall relationship._

The more rational part of my brain answered, _Yea, but you're fifteen. He's probably three years older than you._

_So? He thinks I'm eighteen!_

_Exactly! He thinks you're eighteen, so he's going to want to do stuff that, well, eighteen-year-olds do!_

_I don't want to have sex with him!_

_It won't matter what you want._

Before I could actually think of an argument for that, the doctor walked in, his head down and partially covered by his laptop. He was probably looking at my x-rays. Dr. Cullen turned to put his computer down on the bed.

He turned back, his face unhidden, and I gasped aloud.

It wasn't because he was perfect. It wasn't because he was a vampire. It wasn't because his eyes were jet black, the signature of a bloodthirsty vampire.

It was because I recognised him.

It was because he was Carlisle Cullen.

**AN: Yay! I finally get to write about the Cullens! Yay! Dances in joy**

**It's kind of odd that I have a few chapters in a row set in hospitals (The next one will be, too.) I think it's just because so many people I know are/have been in hospitals recently that it's on my mind.**

**I'm going to try to update every other day if I can, maybe more frequently if I have enough time at home. So expect the next chapter by Monday!**

**Thanks to everyone who is reading, reviewing and giving my story a chance! Luv ya!**

**I don't own anything that appears in the Twilight series. It's not mine. Wish it was, but it's not. I just get my OC's and this story. (Wow, I get tired of writing this.)**

**-BMTW**


	11. Morphine

Chapter 11:Morphine

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" He asked me, his voice kind but quick.

"Yo-ya-wh-ho-"I spluttered, pressing my back against the chair. My heart was beating quickly, and my breathing was heavy from fear. I knew my eyes were wide and my face paler than his, but I couldn't help my reaction. I was going to die. I was going to die in a hospital, just because I didn't want to drive back to Seattle. I was going to die because I had let my guard down for two seconds to think that I actually might have a normal life. I was going to die.

He opened his hands slightly and spoke calmly. "My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. I need you to tell me what's wrong so I can help you." I just stared at him in panic, his words not penatrating my frozen brain.

He started to walk towards me, and I suddenly found my voice. "No! Stay there! Don't you come any closer to me!"

"Ms. Hartburg. I will not hurt you. Please let me help you."

I shook my head vehlmently. No way was I letting a lying leech near me. He tried circling around to get closer to me, but I yelled out. "NO! I told you, stay in front of the door!" He backed cautiously away from me, his hands raised, palms open and facing me. I knew that trying to keep him farther away from me was useless - he could close the distance of several feet in less than a second, but I was too frighened to think clearly.

"Elizabeth, can you tell me what's wrong?" Carlisle spoke calmly, reasuringly, and I felt myself starting to relax into the chair. He took a step towards me, and I tensed up again. "Why are you crying, Elizabeth? Is it your arm? Can you tell me what's wrong?" He repeated. I haddn't realized that tears were streaming down my face untill I put a hand up to check. I stared at him blankly, feeling myself shaking, crying out wordlessly.

"What do you mean by 'I'm going to die'? Please tell me what is wrong." The man pleaded with me, his black eyes unreadable.

I didn't know I was saying that out loud. Some far-off corner of my brain was screaming at me to calm down because my frantically beating heart was not helping me stay alive at all.

_Stop that!_ The sardonic little voice in the back of my head told me. _You've been around vampires before. You should be calm and pretending like you don't know anything. Besides, listen to what he's saying. If he wanted to kill you, he would have already._

_I'm going to die._ I thought back, completely in hysterics. Or maybe I said it aloud. I didn't know. _He's going to kill me!_ I know I said that aloud, because Carlisle responded.

"Who's going to kill you, Elizabeth? What are you talking about?"

_You're impossible! Just take a deep breath and calm down!_

_I'm gonna die!_

"Please, let me help you! You're not going to die!"

_Emmy! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! _

_I'm gonna die._

_Stop it!_

_I'm gonna die._

_Emily!_

_I'm gonna die._

"Please just try to relax. No one is going to die, not in my hospital. Not on my watch."

_Emmy, did you hear that! He's not going to kill you, so snap out of it! He's not like Aro, like the others!_

_I'm going to die._

_You are so embarrasing._

_I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die._

"Elizabeth! Please stop saying you are going to die!" He paused for a moment, then said. "Here's Nurse Smith. He's going to give you something to help you calm down okay?" I didn't realize I had closed my eyes untill I opened them and saw the nurse coming at me with a huge needle full of morphine.

"No! No, no, no! Oh God, please, NO! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna DIE!" I screamed, fighting away from the man's hold. Icy hands gripped me, and I screamed louder, thrashing against the iorn hold. Finally, through a combined effort, they both managed to hold down one of my arms and jab me with the needle. Instantly I felt drowsyness trickling through my veins.

The last thing I heard before I sank into unconciousness was Carlisle's voice saying, "No, I'll look after her. I don't have a clue what that was about."

"I'm going to die." I whispered before darkness closed around me.

When I woke, I was in the bed, and it was dark in the room, the window's thrown open, but the glass dark.

Carlisle was sitting in the chair beside me, his eyes different somehow, but I couldn't place it. My heart gave a little jump as I saw him, but I was still too groggy to panic.

"Whatime'sit?" I mumbled, so faintly I could barely hear myself.

"Five a.m.. The sun will rise soon."

"It'll be cloudy." I said, sure of myself. It was always cloudy in Forks.

"Yes."

He was silent for a moment as I studied him, his eyes a million years away. I suddenly realized the difference. His eyes were gold, not red or black, but gold. I wasn't sure what that ment, but it seemed somehow familiar. My heart gave another start as I realized that his eyes were the same color as the boy I had dreamed about back at the Voltouri's hide away.

"Last night. You kept screaming 'I'm going to die', and 'he's going to kill me'. I can only assume that you ment that you thought that _I_ was going to kill you?"

"Uh." I just kind of twitched my head, but he took that as a nod.

"Then you know."

"Depend's on what you think I know. For example: if you think I know the number of times Russia has landed a space craft on the moon, I couldn't tell you. But if you think that I know how to spell Russia, I would tell you R-U-S-S-I-A. Everything depends on perspective." I managed to say this all with a straight face, even though I was making no sense at all.

"You know about me." Carlisle looked at me carefully, his voice still calm.

"Not much." I admitted.

"Tell me what you do know."

"I know that you were born some time in the mid-seventeenth century in London, your father was a pastor and hunted monsters, you tried to follow in his footsteps but somehow ran into a, a...a v-v--...monster and he attacked you and changed you into what you are now. I know you swam to France and persued medicine by night, and moved on to Italy where you met Aro, leader of the Voltouri. I know that you stayed with him for years, and the two of you argued over...over...something or other...Aro kept trying to get you to see his way, but you wouldn't, and you left and made your way to America. You haven't been back to visit Aro sence. You're over three hundred years old. You can't die, your eyes change color when you need to...feed, your skin is pale and reflects light, which is why you can't go out in the daytime, you can't sleep, you have no special abilities that Aro...I mean I am aware of, and your eyes are gold instead of red but I don't know why that is, but I think it probably has something to do with why you and Aro were arguing, why you left the Voltouri. And why you're sitting here next to me, talking to me and listening instead of killing me."

"You know quite a bit, Elizabeth. Tell me, how old are you, really, and what's your real name?" Carlisle asked me, his eyebrows raising as he spoke.

I blushed and looked down - I didn't like being caught lying. "My name's Emily Hamming, actually, and, well, I'm, um, fifteen."

He nodded as if that was the most natural thing in the world. "So Aro never told you why I left, did he?"

"I never said I knew him."

"You spoke of him as if you had been a part of his family."

"He kidnapped me when I was twelve, and was going to change me, probably sometime this year. I ran away."

"Not an easy feat, escaping from the Voltouri."

"If any one can, it would be me."

Carlisle left that hanging, then spoke softly. "I can see why he would have wanted you." I sighed softly, and realized that for the first time in what seemed like years - and probably was - I felt no fear.

He looked at me, his expression almost sad. "You never answered my question. Did he tell you why I left?"

"No. Or if he did, I forgot."

"I don't share his views on our...natural...food source. I don't hunt humans."

"Woah. Wait. You don't feed on humans? But, then, how are you still, you know, alive?"

"Animals, mostly large game, are enough to sustain...my kind, instead of human blood."

I winced at the words, feeling a wave of death rush at me from the walls of the hospital. Carlisle seemed to notice and changed the subject.

"Your arm is fine, by the way. You're actually healing incredibly fast. I'd say you can take your cast of in another week or so, at the rate you're going."

"That's great! Can I go home now?" The morphine had worn off by now, and I was ready to jump out of this dumb bed and run the whole way to my condo.

"Would you like our protection? The Voltouri must have noticed your absence, and Aro does not take his losses well." Carlisle asked suddenly.

"'Our' meaning who? And no, I'm doing perfectly fine on my own. I'd rather stay away from the supernatural for now, thanks."

"I ment my family and myself. We would be more than pleased to offer our home to you. But if you would prefer that we forgot about this little meeting, I will be more than happy to do that as well."

"I like that last part the best. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but I really can't stand any more strangeness in my life right now."

"Very well." He stood and shook my hand, helping me out of the bed. A few papers were signed, I paid for my visit (almost two thousand dollars for the over night stay) and left the hospital, the engima of Carlisle Cullen and his odd, non-human eating family already starting to fade in my mind. I would probably worry about what their appearance in my life ment soon.

But for now, I had some reaserch to do.

**AN: So here's the next chapter! Sorry the ending's kind of lame, (the next two or three will be, too) but I will get to the real action soon. I'm not even at the real plot yet! I've just spent ten chapters rambling on and setting up for it! AHHH!**

**Anyway, I ment to get this on here earlier today, but the internet was down at my house all day, and I finally got on...**

**Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing and giving my story a chance! U all rule the world!**

**Do I really have to put a disclaimer on here? Surely by now everyone knows that I don't own anything that has to do with Twilight!! Just my OC's and story! **

**-BMTW**


	12. Parasite

Chapter 12:Parasite

It was three weeks after my first visit to Dr. Cullen, and my life was surprisingly normal. I had spent a few days on the acient computer my landlord had put in my condo (he must have been getting really desperate to find a tennant) and found out some pretty interesting things. A man named Dr. Carlisle Cullen had worked at more than two dozen hospitals around the country, the shifts varying in some kind of pattern that I couldn't figure out, and he had been in the U.S for about a hundred and fifty years.

About the Voltouri, I couldn't find anything. Just a small piece on Marcus - St. Marcus - and how he drove the vampires out of Volterra, and I had already known that. According to the average human population, the Voltouri did not exist.

I did not exist either.

That news I found slightly disturbing. There should have been records of me in the U.S system. My parents, my mother's death, my adoptions, reports of my kidnapping in Florence and my adoptive family's deaths there. But I couldn't even find the slightest mention of myself, or my life in any of the places I searched. Either my internet was faulty, or Aro had gone to extreme measures to erase me from the face of the world. I had never realized how serious he had been about changing me, but now it struck me that my life would have been over if I had stayed in Italy. I had left on a whim, part of me never truly beleiving that what I had seen in Volterra was true. That part of me was gone.

But as I thought about my non-existance, I realized that it was really a blessing. I could live my life as some one else, never in danger of being discoverd as some fifteen year old girl who had gone missing years ago. I could start over, build myself a new life, right here in Forks. I could even have a family, if I wanted. The brightness I felt at that thought carried me through the next few weeks.

When I went back to the hospital to get my cast removed, I was surprised to find that it was Dr. Snow who would be removing it, rather than Dr. Cullen. It seemed like he was honoring my request to allow me to forget about the mythical world that interwove with our own. Dr. Snow, for his part, was astounded at how fast I had healed. I had broken my arm severely, and within three weeks - a third of the time it should have taken me to get my cast off - I barely even needed a brace. I explained to him that I had always been a quick healer, and I rarely ever got scars, but he just shook his head in amazement.

After that, I had nothing to do but just focus on my job, rebuild my life, and flirt with some of the cute boys in this tiny town. Forks was all hyped up about the highschool graduation on June forth, and that date came and passed and the world calmed down breifly. At the Thriftway, I had so many proud mothers in my check-out line, and they all wanted to tell me just what their chilren had achieved in thier highschool years. I listened earnestly - each story brought a deep longing to my heart. _I _wanted to be one of the graduating students. _I_ wanted to have a proud mother telling anyone who would listen about how well I had done. _I _wanted to have the normal life, the normal schooling that these people all had. I had a breif childhood, most of which I could barely remember, and then I had been isolated from most other humans - my peers especially, and now I was pretending to be years older than I was, and already past all of that. It made me sad, but happy at the same time. I was glad to know that some one, somewhere had had the life I had dreamed of. I felt the mothers' joy as my own, and I knew that someday, I would love to have my own children, to brag about them.

A week later, on my four week aniversary of my escape of Italy, I celebrated by going garage-sale-ing and listening to the town gossips, something I reveled in. Unfortunately, there was no news worth listening too, but I did find some cool junk. There was an old, beat up guitar that was fifty dollars, and still playable, so I bought it, similing at the thought of trying to relearn the instrument after so many years. I also bought a whicker chair, two rugs, and a beautifull silver pendant. It was shaped like a crecent moon, and had super-fine wire running around it in intricate patterns, creating an almost lace like feel to it. I also found a bike that was in pretty good shape and bought it because it was only a hundred dollars.

A day and a half later, on a day when the sun had temporarily dispelled the rain, though the clouds still hung in a low layer over the town, I was looking out my window towards the mountains. The clouds had broken in a large circle above about three miles of forest, creating a shaft of sunlight miles away. But that wasn't what had caught my attention. Two thick, heavy plumes of lavender-tinged smoke were rising thickly from the base of the mountain. About twenty minutes later, a third plume rose from farther up the mountain. It was considerably smaller, but still dark enough to be seen from my condo. I had seen smoke like that, once before, in Italy. I shivverd, suppressing the memory that was threatening my calm, and drew the curtains on my window, shuting away the sunlight, putting the morbid thoughts out of my mind. I had a life to get on with, and whatever that smoke was, I was positive it didn't concern me.

On the eighteenth, my sixteenth birthday - trust me, I did not miss the irony in that - I took a cab to Port Angeles and did a little light shopping. I had dinner in some low-priced restuarant, by myself, and went home, pleased with the little life I had made for myself. I went to sleep that night with a smile on my face, peace in my heart, and lightness in my limbs.

oooooooooooo

I woke the next morning to a rare day of sunshine, and birds singing and buttery light streaming in over my face and pillow. I felt amazingly light and happy and warm sitting in my cushy little bed with my window thrown wide open, the while lace curtains blowing in the warm summer breeze. It was really humid in Forks when it got hot, but I didn't mind so much - it was a nice change from the usuall chilly rain. I had had all the same luxuries in Volterra, but somehow, they seemed just that much better when I was free. I wanted to lay in the warm sunshine forever, but eventually my alarm clock rang, and I had to get up and make breakfast.

Eating my fried eggs, I thought about what I would do today. It was a Saturday, so I didn't have work, and it seemed like a perfect beech day. Then again, I really haddn't done much hiking lately, mostly because of the rain, and I really did want to go and take a closer look at the surrounding forest. I had heard that there was a waterfall about twenty miles from Forks, and I wanted to see if I could make it there and back in a day. It was supposed to be on a trail, so it wouldn't be too hard to find. I mulled that over for a while, even though I already knew I was going to do it. I could go to the beech some other time.

I figured I would need some hiking gear, and the local outfitter's or whatever they called it opened at six am. I glanced at the clock, currious. 6:15. I had always been a morning person. Packing some water and a peanut butter sandwich in my old backpack, I pulled on some hiking shoes, a loose t-shirt and shorts. It wasn't really that warm, but if I was going to be hiking, I wanted to be cool.

I biked down to the store, the ride taking about five minutes. I walked in and let the owner's son help me with whatever gear I would need. I ended up with surprisingly little. Just a compass, some bug spray, some mace, a watch, a map, and a pair of climbing gloves. As I purchased my gear I talked to the woman working. She was one of the town's worst gossips, and she told me the news that I had somehow missed. Apparently, the hot topic of the summer was that an eighteen year old girl - the police cheif's daughter, no less, - had announced her engagement. The townspeople of Forks were horrified, but I had to resist the urge to laugh. In Volterra, it wasn't completely unheard of for girls my age to be married off by their parents.

I thanked both the woman and her son, and set off down the road on my bike. The trailhead I wanted was about five miles outside of Forks, closer to LaPush - the local reservation - than the town. I was in shape, and the ride was mostly downhill anyway, so it only took me a few minutes to get where I wanted.

I adjusted my pack and walked into the thick foliage.

It was humid, and the overgrown plants hung in my way, but the forest was breathtaking. I was surrounded on all sides by a solid wall of green, and I could hear birds and small animals in the trees near me. Occationally I would see a young fawn or a buck between the trees, staring wide-eyed at me. Bright flowers wound around the bases of trees, adding splashes of red and yellow and purple among the green. A delecate flower caught my eye, and I paused to look at it. It was lavender and bell-shaped with four transparent petals stretching gracefully toward the ground. The bright yellow center peeked timidly through the petals, and it smelled slightly of lemonade. Looking closer, I saw that it was actually a vine, winding around the plants and trees in one continuous line. It was a parasite, I realized, like all vines are. Shafts of sunlight broke through the leaves above it, making the petals sparkle gently in the sunlight. It took my breath away, the fact that something so beautiful could be killing the tree it was wound around.

I turned away from it, tears blurring my vision. I didn't really understand why I was so suddenly crying, but I made my way farther up the trail that way, blurry-eyed and confused.

It came as a surprise to me, then, when a large blurr slammed into me, knocking me flat on my back. A ferocious growling came from it and I could hear it's heavy breathing above me. I blinked furriously, trying to clear my eyes. When I did, I had to blink two or three more times, because I couldn't beleive my eyes.

**AN: This chapter was up much sooner than I planned. I decided to condense all the boring parts into this chapter so I could get on with the story, and so the rest of this story will have a much slower pace. **

**I love cliffies, so here you go! **

**A virtual trophie goes to anyone who can guess who/what knocked Emily over!**

**Huge thanks to anyone who has read, reviewed, or given my story a chance. You all rule the world!**

**I'd really like 6 or 7 reviews before I post the next chapter, pretty please with a cherry on top? Oh, and if I made a mistake with the order of events here (mainly Bella announcing her engagement) could you please let me know? I think I got it right, but I just want to make sure! Oh, and I'm guessing on dates here, because I'm not sure when the major events in Eclipse happens in relationship to this story, but I think I kinda crunched everything. Oh well.**

**I don't own Twilight. That's Meyer's territory.**

**-BMTW **


	13. Destiny

Chapter 13:Destiny

The first thing that I saw were the teeth. The huge, glistening, white teeth were the only thing in my feild of vision. Then I blinked again and my eyes refocused, alowing me to look at the beast in front of me clearly. It was huge, nearly six feet at the shoulder, it's fur a silky russet color, with black, black eyes staring at me from above. At first, I thought it was a bear. But it wasn't.

The wolf growled at me for a moment longer, then closed it's dark lips over the glimmering teeth. It watched me, it's eyes somber and almost sad, as I moved cautiously to stand. I backed away from it slightly, showing it that I was no threat.

A memory pushed itself to the front of my mind as I watched the wolf take a hesitant step towards me.

_I was twelve, and standing next to Aro in the Voltouri's main hall._

_He had called for me to attend this...meeting...or whatever it was. I wasn't sure why, but I knew I didn't want to be there. I glanced around, noticing all the glares directed my way. No one wanted me there, vampires and humans alike. I looked down, ashamed, wishing I could die right on the spot. Aro, noticing my discomfort, smiled and reached out to grip my hand._

_"I just want you to watch this, then I'll let you go back to your suite." He whispered in my ear, so quickly I had to strain to catch it. I just nodded, trying my hardest not to let tears escape my eyes._

_I desperately wanted to wrench my hand from Aro's - I hated him - but I didn't dare. So I just stood by his side, fidgiting nervously, staring at the floor, waiting untill I could run back to my room. _

_After what seemed like eternity, the doors to the main hall opened, and Jane and her 'escort crew' - my secret name for the Guardsmembers who escorted visitors into the Voltouri's home - walked in, leading a band of four men and two women into the large room. They faced Aro - and myself - with wary animosity, their faces all remarkably similar. They looked like family, all with dark hair and Asian features, and the moved as one being, rather than many individuals, thier expressions changing at the same time. They were all incredibly tall and brawny, even the women. The largest of the six, a young man who looked to be about twenty something, stepped forward from his position at the head of the group._

_He adressed Aro, speaking in fragmented Italian. Paolo had taught me enough that I could understand most of what he said. "Greetings, Voltouri. We pay our respects to you, and ask that you allow us to pass through your territory."_

_Aro smiled, giving my hand a squeeze. It was much harder for me to understand him, but I managed. "You have done all that I asked by coming to us when you entered our territory. You may continue to pass through, but know that if you harm any of our family, or the humans we protect, you will be destroyed." I didn't really understand what Aro ment by that. They didn't look particuarly dangerous to me._

_The man looked outraged. One of the women behind him looked even more furrious, and she was shaking with rage. The leader took a breath and spoke, his voice deadly. "How dare you insult us in such a way. Do you think us children, unable to controll our emotions?"_

"_Quite obviously. I wouldn't have said that if I thought any of your kind capable of restraining themselves." Aro countered, his voice smooth, the sarcastic smile never leaving his face._

_What happened next was entierly too quick for my brain to process. One of the women, the one who was shaking, seemed to explode, and I blinked in surprise. When my eyes opened a fraction of a second later, an enormous, steel grey wolf was standing in her place. It growled once, then launched itself toward Aro before any one could react. I screamed in fear and surprise at the sight of the huge, snarling wolf coming towards me. My voice seemed to shock the Voltouri back into action, and Marcus lept forward from his position behind Aro to meet the wolf, mid-air. The sound of them colliding was like boulders smashing into one another._

_Then the rest of the visitors sprang to action, exploding their forms into huge wolves, like the woman. The vampires around me moved too quickly for me to see, and suddely I was thrown into a side room, the door shut, leaving me alone. Outside, I could hear wolves snarling and screaming in pain, as the Voltouri did what they were trained to do._

_I shut my eyes and pressed my head against the wall, trying to drownd out the rest of the world with my own thoughts._

A currious wimper from the wolf jolted me back to the present. I sighed. Over the years, many such packs had requested Aro's permission to pass through Volterra. Every once and a while, there was an...incident. Aro and Paolo both had explained to me what those men and women were. They were werewolves, humans with the ablity to morph into giant snarling canines. They couldn't age untill the gained enough controll over their anger to stop making the change from human to beast. They were just as dangerous as vampires, just as unpredictable. There was a lot I didn't know, but I knew enough to recognise a werewolf when I saw one. And the animal standing in front of me was no mere animal.

I didn't know if I should run, or try to make peace with it. But then a thought popped into my head. Something Paolo had told me once. _Werewolves are the absolout enimies of vampires. No matter what, they will never be on the same side. They're like fire and ice - one will always destroy the other._

If the wolves hated vampires as much as I did, then maybe we were on the same side.

And with that thought, I did one of the most stupid things of my life.

I stuck out my hand to the russet animal in front of me, ignoring the fact that it couldn't shake it, and said, "My name is Emily Hamming."

The wolf cocked its head, looking at me with those sad, black eyes. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that its expression held anger, wistfulness, and a little bit of curriousity. We stood there, watching each other for a few minutes, neither of us moving.

Then, without warning, the wolf barked sharply, and bounded off into the forest. I sighed. So much for communication. I started to walk back up the trail, wondering if I had just spoken to an actuall wolf and nearly gotten myself killed, when a voice came from the trail behind me.

"Wait! Where are you going?!"

I spun, eyes wide, taking in the massive Native American boy who stood before me.

He was shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of cutoff shorts, and his straight black hair hung just below his chin in a dangerous, angry way. His expression was unbeleivably sad, my heart breaking for him. I didn't know what had happened to him, but his sorrow radiated palpably through the air. I glanced down at his exposed chest, and blushed, wishing I haddn't. He had a six pack, his skin was a beautiful red-brown, and he was amazingly muscular, but not in a disgusting, body-builder way, but in a comfortable, I-want-your-arms-wrapped-around-me way. I had to shut my eyes tightly to stop staring at him, he was so gorgeous. His face was just as beautiful, with full lips and high cheekbones, and huge dark eyes with huge dark lashes that brushed his cheeks when he blinked.

I took all that in in about five seconds, and then realized, with some embarrasment, that he was waiting for me to speak.

"I, um, thought you weren't, well, uh, coming back."

"You knew what I am." It wasn't a question.

I nodded.

"How?" The boy asked, closing the distance between us in a few short strides. His bare feet made no noise on the leaf-covered ground.

"Um." I blinked, unprepaired for his interrogation. I hastily changed the subject. "You never told me your name." I pointed out.

"Jacob Black." He said, holding out one gracefull hand for me to shake. "How did you know about me?"

"Lucky guess?"

Jacob leaned closer to my face. "I don't beleive that."

I had to supress an overpowering urge to kiss him, right then and there. I looked up into his eyes. They were black and unreadable, seeming to pull me closer and closer untill I fell into the liquid pools and just kept falling forever into his eyes. I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

He hesitated, emotion flickering too fast over his face for me to read. When Jacob spoke, his voice was softer, not quite as harsh as it had been. "How did you know?"

"It's a long story." I whispered, still lost in his eyes.

And then I did kiss him. Or maybe he kissed me. Either way, my mouth ended up against his, moving in ways it never had. His tongue traced my bottom lip, light as a feather, asking permission. I gasped, and he took advantage of the space, tangling his tongue with my own. My hands were hanging pathetically by my sides, but his were twisted in my hair, holding me to him, crushing me against him. Jacob pressed my back against a nearby tree, and I wraped my arms around his neck, conforming my body to his. His lips moved mine in unfamiliar patterns, and I just followed his lead. All rational thought fled my body as I dissolved into passionate need.

Finally, too soon, Jacob pulled away from me with a heartbroken sob, turning away from me, but not before I could see the tears streaming down his face. I was panting for breath, and I could barely hear what he muttered, his voice saturated with misery. "You can't fight destiny."

I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about, but his silent tears filled me with unspeakable misery. I didn't even know him, and yet, I couldn't bear to see him in pain. I walked over to him and touched his arm gently. "Jacob, what's wrong?"

"The woman I love is getting married to a vamp-man I hate."

I was silent for a moment, letting that sink in. "She's marrying a vampire?" I asked, cautious. I wasn't entierly sure that was what he was going to say, but I had to take a chance.

Jacob's head snapped up to look at me. "Yes."

"Is he a Cullen?"

"How do you know that?"

"Same reason I know about you. But I don't get what this has to do with why you kissed me. If you love some one else, then why would you kiss _me_?" I squeeked.

"Because I can't love her anymore."

"Why not?"

He looked at me, his expression tortured. "I love you more."

I stared at him, agast. I had just been kissed by some guy I had never seen before in my life - a werewolf, on top of that - and then he tells me he loves me. While crying over his ex-girlfriend. Who happens to be marring a leech. My life is turning into a soap opera.

**AN: Happy 4th of July! The birthday of America! Yay! (i'm a big fireworks fan) Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Also to those of you who guessed last chapter, good guesses. Congrats and a virtual trophy to booksruleboysdrule, and to CoolCoquette, who's guess was so frigheningly accurate, I almost fell out of my chair. Although, it was pretty obvious.**

**The next chapter will take a little longer for me to write, b/c I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it should be up by next Saturday. If anyone would like to volenteer some ideas, I'd really appricate it, b/c I really have no idea what to do with the next chapter.**

**Oh, and booksruleboysdrule pointed out that last chapter was a little scattered. Sorry about that. This chapter - and probably the next one, too - is like that. They're kind of the chapters that I didn't want to write but had to, to get the story to move on. I promise I'll be better about that. **

**Also, for anyone who is wondering, the Cullens play a huge part of this story, but I have a few chapters to get out of the way before I can bring them back.**

**REVIEWS! They really and truly are my inspiration to keep going, and they always make my day, so please give me some feedback on this story! And to everyone who has given this story a chance, you are the best.**

**I don't own anything to do with Twilight, just OC's and this plot.**

**-BMTW (Sorry this note is so long...I'll keep them shorter in the future.)**


	14. Storys

14

I took a step towards him, and gently layed my hand on his arm. "I-" I began.

He cut me off with another heartbroken sob, and sprinted away from me, into the green wall of the forest. I stood there, shocked, my hand still raised in the empty air.

"Well this is just great." I muttered to myself, starting the walk back to the road. "Here I am, thinking that my life might just be normal for once, and here comes Random Wolf-Boy, who decides that he loves me. Stupid, uncontrollable, teenage hormones. He's probably some kind of stalker-freak."

What is it about me that just attracts the worst possible situations? I don't ask for troubble. I certainly don't enjoy being in troubble. But no, here I am, in the middle of friggin' Nowhere, USA, surrounded by myths and fairytails, and up to my nose in confusion.

I made it back to my bike in record time. I haddn't walked as far as I thought. I looked back a the trail, mildly regretting the fact that I haddn't been able to reach the waterfall. Even though it was only about seven thirty in the morning, some how, I was just too tired to try to climb it. I had the gear. I could do that later. Right now, I just wanted to go back home, burry my head under my pillow, and go back to sleep. Maybe when I wake up, my nightmare will be over.

I started pedaling back to Forks, when I passed the road that led to First Beach. Why not, I thought, I'm in no hurry. Besides, I haven't seen the ocean in forever. Parking my bike in the parking lot, I ran my hands through my hair. It was windblown and frizzy, the humidity making my normaly board straight hair curl up on itself. Volterra had gotten humid, but it was never this bad. I felt like I was going to start dripping water.

I sighed, looking out at the beach. It wasn't what I had expected. I had been hoping for clear, blue water and white sand beaches. The kind of thing you would see in California. Instead, First Beach was covered with thousands of multi-colored rocks, and the water was a deep, sparkling grey, beating against the thin strip of sand with an angry ferocity. It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it was savagely beautiful. It fit my mood.

I lept recklessly across the rocks, enjoying the challenge of trying to jump farther than I knew I should, making my way to the thin strip of sand that was showing above the ocean. I yanked off my shoes, leaving them strewn across the beach behind me. Sitting down, I winced as the icy water lapped at my toes. However hot the air might be, the ocean was freezing. I drew my knees up to my chest, looking out into the waves. I felt like I could see forever, as if time itself were spread out before me it the ever-changing ripples of water. This ocean had been here for thousands, millions of years, and would continue to to be here long after I was gone. As I gazed out at the sea, I lost myself in the patterns of ripples, the way the sun sparkled on the water. For the first time I could ever remember, I wasn't thinking at all, just letting myself drift with the tide.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A hand touched my shoulder, waking me from my trance.

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed, jumping about six feet in the air, landing unsteadily in the water. I turned to face the intruder, still trying to regain my balance.

A black-haired, bronze-skinned boy was smiling softly at me. "Sorry." Jacob said.

"Don't do that! You nearly made me fall in the ocean! You could at least make some noise when you're walking up to me!" I yelled, still startled. My head felt fuzzy, like I had been drinking, and I was having a hard time putting my thoughts and words together.

"Sorry," he said again. " I just wanted to apologise for what happened this morning. I didn't mean to act like that."

"Uh..." I was still scrambling to understand his words. Something struck me as odd though. He had said this morning. Like it wasn't still morning. I glanced at my watch and yelped.

"What's wrong?!" Jacob asked.

"It's two o'clock! I've been here for six hours!" I yelled, paniced. He looked at me a little oddly, so I sat back down. Jacob came with me. "I thought I had only been here for a few minutes." I explained. "I must have fallen asleep or something." I shrugged. When he still looked at me funny, I snapped, "Hey, you made your apology. You don't have to sit here looking at me like I'm crazy." I stood. "If you don't mind, I have things to do. Later." I started stomping back to my bike.

"Wait! Emily!" He shouted after me. I just ignored him. I was feeling a little bit like I was in a dream, and he certainly wasn't doing anything to help the situation. I gasped when he was suddenly in front of me. I haddn't even seen him move. "Emily," Jacob said, "I have something I wanted to talk to you about. You can run away when we're done."

I kept walking. "Fine! Have it your way!" He shouted, exasperated. Suddenly I was in the air, over Jacob's shoulder.

"Put me down! I demand that you put me down this instant!" I shrieked, pounding my fists ineffectively against his back. His skin was too hot, as if he had a fever, burning me where I touched him.

"No! I told you, I want to talk!" Grunting, Jacob set me back on my butt in the sand. Still holding my arm in his iron grip, he turned me to face him. His black, endless eyes bored into mine, staring straight into my soul. I couldn't have looked away if I tried.

"I want to know how you knew about me, and about the Cullens." he said, his husky voice even deeper than it had been before.

I struggled to look away. "I told you - it's a long story."

"I have time."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Too damn bad. You're going to tell me whether you like it or not. You can't just appear here, out of nowhere, knowing secrets that we've kept for hundreds of years, and not expect to be found out." He glared at me, his face hard and determined.

"Listen Jacob, you -" I began, my voice just as cold as his, before he cut me off.

"It's Jake."

"Fine, Jake, whatever." I shook my head, my eyes still locked with his. "You can't just run me over and kiss me and tell me you love me and expect that I'll trust you. I'm not one of those girls that just falls head over heels for some dude I just met, just 'cause you're handsome."

"I'm not asking you to marry me! I just want you to tell me what's going on! My whole life is falling apart, and I just want some answers!" Jake yelled.

"Has it ever occurred to anyone that I might want some answers of my own?!" I countered, my voice too loud for the silence of the beach.

Jake looked down before I could see the emotion on his face. "I might be able to give you what you want, if you give me what I want." he whispered.

I snorted. This guy was good. Not as good as me, but good enough. "And what is it you want?"

"Who are you?" He said harshly, his head snapping back up.

"I told you who I am. Emily."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean, Jake, because right now, I haven't even got a clue which way is up, let alone what you mean!"

"Fine, tell me your story."

I looked at him blankly.

"Every one has a story, Em. How did you end up in Forks, knowing about vampires and werewolves and whatever the hell else?!"

I didn't answer, because I was a million miles away. I was suddenly ten years old and frightened, lost in Boston after I had run away from my street family. That's what I did best - run. When things got too tough, too frightening, I ran. Somehow, I ended up in Boston, miles away from anyone I knew, huddled on a park bench in the middle of the night. A boy had come to me then, a boy a few years older than me.

"Are you lost?" He asked me, standing in front of the bench. I nodded feebly.

"Where's your mom?" I looked at him with wide eyes. I shrugged.

"Your dad?"

"Never met him." I mumbled, too scared to look up. Shivers racked my body, making my teeth rattle in my jaw. The boy took pity on me and took off his coat, wrapping it around my shoulders. I looked up at him with a wide-eyed stare, and he laughed.

"You looked cold."

"Aren't you cold, now?" I asked.

The boy shrugged. "I'll survive. I'm used to the winter's up here. Where are you from?"

"New York."

"How'd you end up in Boston?" I shrugged again. He sighed and held out a hand, sitting next to me. "My name's Peyton. What's yours?"

"Emily."

"Emily. That's pretty. Do you mind if I call you Em?" Another shrug.

"Would you like to come home with me, Em."

"NO!" I knew what that meant. I wouldn't be coming back.

"Well, why don't you tell me your story, Em."

"Story?" I asked, pulling his warm coat closer to my shoulders.

"Everyone has a story, Em." Peyton said, standing and holding out his hand for me to take.

Everyone has a story, Em. Peyton had said those words to gain my trust, and now, years later, Jake was repeating them with the same intent.

I took a breath. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Well, I lived in New York City, up until I was about nine." I began. "But I only lived with my mom until I was seven. I never knew who my dad was - he ran off before I was born. Anyway, when I was seven, I came home from school one day and found that my mom had been murdered by some psycho. The police never caught who killed her - they didn't even have suspects. It was the most bizarre thing they had ever seen, they said. There was no motive, no pattern, nothing. Just a random killing for the sake of killing.

"I had no living relatives - at least, not ones who would take me in, so I was put into foster care. I got really lucky - I stayed with the same family for two years. They were all really nice, but, um, things didn't really work for me. I was pretty messed up. So when I was nine years old, I ran away. I stayed with this group of squatters in New York, until the police busted us right after I turned ten. Apparently, the people I was with were a bunch of drug traffickers, or at least some of them were. I took off, and got on the first bus I could, and I ended up in Boston, Massachusetts. A boy named Peyton found me, and took me home to his parents. They were some of the nicest, kindest people I have ever met in my life."

"Were?" Jake asked.

"I'll get to that in a minute." I waved him off and continued with my story. "Anyway, so his parents took me to Social Services and spent a few months battling in the court systems to adopt me. So they won, eventually, and we spent a year and a few months in Boston. When it was my twelfth birthday, they decided to take a trip to Volterra, Italy. It was supposed to be in celebration of my adoption, and of my birthday. They had heard from some guy that it was really beautiful there, and decided to take a trip.

"We spent a week there. It really and truly was one of the most incredible places I had ever been in my life. It's a gorgeous city." Jake snorted. "Well, it is! So anyway, on the last day before we left, my parents were….attacked."

Jake, who had been lounging against a rock, sat up, his face anxious. "What do you mean, attacked? By who?"

I was silent for a moment, looking down at the little grains of sand sticking to my bare legs. I hated reliving these moments, reliving my life. I wanted to forget it all, for it to be over and done. I had hoped I could start over in Forks. Apparently that wasn't an option.

"Em?" Jake said quietly.

I took a deep breath, rushing into my next sentence. "In Volterra, there's this group. They're, well, vampires. They're sort of like a vampire ruling class, enforcing the rules and making sure their world stays hidden. They call themselves -"

"Voltouri." Jake finished for me. I looked at him curiously - his face was tight, guarded, angry.

"How did you know that?"

"The Cullens. I'll tell you about it when you're done." He said, easily deflecting my question.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, looking sternly at Jake. "No more interruptions, okay? Once I start talking about this stuff, I kinda don't want to stop."

"You know, you really sound like a New Yorker when you're mad." Jake grinned at me.

I shoved him. "Shut up, Wolf-Boy. Lemme finish."

He just kept grinning at me. "Whatever."

Rolling my eyes again, I started back on my story. "Anyway, the Voltouri base themselves in Volterra. Who knew." I shrugged. "Anyway, two of their…..number decided that my family would make a great meal." I looked down, not wanting to see the expression on his face. "For some reason, they spared me. They knocked me out and took me to Aro. He's like the leader, or whatever they call him. For some reason, he took a liking to me, and decided that I was going to be his new pet.

"The first time a pack of wolves came to the Voltouri, it was right after I had been kidnapped. They were from France, I think. They wanted permission to cross through Volterra. One of the wolves lost her temper and well, I think you know what happens then." I said, shrugging again.

"Yeah. I didn't realize that there were other wolves." Jake muttered.

I stared at him, incredulous. "They're all over Europe. There's not as many in Asia or Africa, and barely any in America, but you're not the only one. Or ones, as the case may be.

"So, back to my stupid life. Packs passed through the Voltouri sometimes, and some of them lost their cool. I eventually learned what Aro and the others were, and how they survived. I didn't talk for two months. I didn't eat for a week. The cook, Paolo befriended me, and got me to eat, and talk again. He also taught me Italian, Spanish, and a French. I'm fluent in Spanish and Italian, and I can speak enough French to be understood, but not enough to have a conversation. Any how, he helped me to deal with my….situation.

"Then, when I just started to feel comfortable, I learned that Aro was planning on….changing me. Paolo was the one who saved me from suicide." When Jake looked at me, confusion in his eyes, I explained, "I was scared beyond rational thought. I figured that it was better to die, than to be a monster.

"So, long story short, Paolo-"

"Can I ask just one thing?" Jake interrupted.

"It had better be important."

"How long were you there?"

"Four years."

"So you're what, sixteen now?"

"Yea, my birthday was yesterday." The date surprised me. It felt like it had been weeks since even this morning.

"Wow." Jake said. "Okay, I'm done. Go on."

"Thank you. Okay, Paolo somehow got a hold of fake ID's and money and stuff for me, and told me to come to Forks. Aro must have found out, because they killed him. That was a few month's ago. I climbed out my window, and down the side of the Voltouri's building. I broke my arm when I fell from the second floor. Now that I think about it, I was being a little over dramatic by climbing out the window in the middle of the night. But hey, it worked, so I'm not complaining.

"I took a bus to Florence and then flew to Seattle. I had to go to the hospital then, to get help for my arm. So I got a cast and spent two days there and then took a cab to Forks. I had to go to Dr. Cullen for my two week check-up. I totally flipped when I saw him. The nurse actually had to sedate me because I wasn't letting anyone near me. I thought that Dr. Cullen was just pretending to be a doctor, and he was going to kill me. When I came around he explained things. Well kind of. It's a little fuzzy. I think he kept me mildly sedated while we were talking so I didn't go insane again." Jake startled me by laughing. I glared at him, and he pressed his lips together, shakking with the effort of holding in his laughter. I smiled. I guess it was kind of funny that they had to sedate me.

"That's how I know about the Cullens. I just don't know how many there are, where they are, or what's going on, aside from the fact that some girl is getting married to one of them, apparently.

"I've been living in a condo-thing in Forks for the last month and a half. I decided to go hiking this morning, and you know the rest." I finished in a rush. It felt really good to tell someone about the weirdness of my life. I had edited out my death-visions - I didn't trust Jake enough to share that part of my history yet. "Any questions."

"None. You explained everything I wanted to know."

"Great. Now I get my answers. Or some of them, at least."

"I'll try. What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about the Cullens, and that girl who's marrying them."

Jake sighed. "Shoulda known this wouldn't be easy." He took a deep breath. "There are seven of them, three females, four males. The girl is Bella Swan. Her dad and my dad have been friends forever. Bella moved here about a year and a half ago. She got into a pretty deep relationship with one of the males right after she moved here. Edward or something. Anyway, around September, right after her eighteenth birthday, the Cullens left town. Bella was in a pretty bad place. The doctor and her dad said she was catatonic.

"She came over to my place in January with two bikes she wanted fixed. Her face….she looked like death. She was pale, and she looked like she hadn't slept right in months. Never smiled. Her voice had no infliction, no life. Bella flinched whenever she heard his name, whenever something reminded her of him. She couldn't even listen to music because it reminded her of that bastard. He made her believe he loved her, and he left her!" Jake clenched his fists, his voice, his whole body shaking with rage.

"I love her. With all my being. She was in so much pain that it broke my heart. I couldn't bear to look at her, at first, because she made me hurt so much. I wanted her to love me to, but I knew that she couldn't love again, not after that leech broke her heart like that. But I could always hope." His voice broke, and I put one hand on his forearm. He looked at me, tears in his eyes. "She said I was her sun, once." Jacob whispered. "She said I warmed her and made her happy, when she was in the darkness that he brought. I finally got her to smile again, to laugh again. And then I had to phase." His voice was no longer soft, but angry and resentful.

"Phase?" I asked carefully. Anything could set him off.

"It's what we call it when we….you know." He shrugged and went on. "I was so scared for her. I couldn't tell her about us, so I couldn't see her. First he had to leave, and now I had done the same thing to her. She guessed, though." His eyes sparkled with joy. "Bella guessed what had happened to me. I was allowed to see her again. And then we found out that she was being hunted."

I gasped. "By vampires?"

Jake nodded. "Two of them. A male and a female. The female wanted revenge for the Cullens killing her mate. We killed the male on our own. The female, she went to Seattle and built herself a newborn army - we didn't find that out until after. We thought she had just run off."

"Wait. A newborn army? You're kidding! I've never heard of one this far north!" I gasped, astonished.

Jake nodded grimly. "She wanted revenge pretty badly. There were about twenty of them, counting the female and her partner." He shuddered at the memory. "She was one of the fiercest creatures I've seen. Her hair was like fire, and she looked like a lioness. And she was furious!" My blood ran cold. Hair like fire. I had a flashback to sitting on that bench in Seattle, the red-haired vampire staring at me intently.

"Her hair was curly and vivid orange-red, right? It seemed to quiver, just like fire." I whispered.

"Yes, but -"

"I saw her, in Seattle. I thought she was going to kill me, but she just let me go."

Jake and I shared the same wary look. The look of someone who had seen one too many strange things in life.

Jake continued at a slower pace. "The Cullens said the army was coming here, to destroy Bella, and they needed our help to fight them. That's how I found out about the Voltouri. The blonde male showed us how to fight them, and when they came, we fought them, and won."

"That was a few days ago, right?" Jake nodded. "I saw the smoke on the mountain. I thought I was crazy. I'm surprised the Voltouri didn't do something about this." I mused.

"The Voltouri did come. They wanted to step in, but they were too late. Now that I think about it, they probably had been bribed by the female. Or they wanted to look for you." Jake looked at me, suspicion in his eyes.

I held up my hands, as if to say, I'm innocent. "Hey, don't look at me. I never saw them. I don't think they know I'm here."

Jake smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just kind of odd that you show up in the middle of this."

"Tell me about it." I muttered, looking down. I looked back up to Jacob. "So when did Bella tell you she was marrying a bloodsucker?"

"Before I went to fight the newborns. I got injured in the fight."

"Is that what the crutches are for?" I asked, nodding at the metal instruments.

"No, wolves heal really quickly. But all of Forks and LaPush thinks that I crashed my motorcycle, and I have to use those so they don't get suspicious. It's really annoying." Jake sighed, looking at his crutches.

"I bet. Is that like, a wolf-thing, the healing?"

"Yup." Jake rolled his eyes. "Any more questions."

"A few. Did Bella invite you to her wedding?"

"No, the leech did."

I wrinkled my nose. "Ouch. That's cold."

Jake laughed. "He thought he was being kind." I laughed with him. Some people were so clueless.

"Okay, next question. Why on earth did you kiss me? Aside from the fact that I'm gorgeous, of course." I grinned stupidly at him.

Jake snorted. "Jeez. Some one's full of themselves." He shook his head. "Tragic."

I shoved him again. "Just answer the question."

"Fine! Have you ever heard of imprinting?"

"Let me guess. It's one of those wolf-things."

"Right. It's kind of like love at first sight. Only more powerful, like gravity. It's when a werewolf sees the person who's destined to be his mate." Jake said, looking at me cautiously from the corner of his eye.

I sat back, floored. "Woah, woah, woah. Wait a minute! I thought I told you that I wasn't into you. I've known you all of what, three hours?! And now you're telling me that I'm your soul mate!? We haven't even had dinner yet!" I cried, both shocked and surprised at his word choice.

Jake looked horrified. "No! No, I didn't mean it like that! I just was trying to explain why I kissed you!"

"It still means the same thing!"

Jake closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Ugh. Girls." He muttered. I slapped his arm.

"I heard that!" I said sarcastically.

Jake sighed and looked away, a small smile on his face. When he turned back to me, he was smiling wider. "Do you want to go to dinner with me in Port Angeles, with me, tonight?"

I grinned sheepishly at him. "Sorry I over reacted."

"Apology accepted." Jake laughed. "But I was serious. Do you want to go to dinner? I can drive."

"Sorry, but I think you're too old for me. What are you, like twenty four?"

"Sixteen." He grinned even wider.

I winced. "Ouch. Sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry. And it's okay. I look a lot older than I am."

"Wolf thing?"

"Right. But answer my question, please. Me, you, dinner, tonight?" He grinned and added. "Well, actually, it's pretty late, so it'd be more like right now, but still…"

"Uh, well, sure. That'd be okay." Jake smiled and stood, helping me to my feet. I glanced at my watch. Six o'clock. Where had the day gone? We walked back to my bike and his car, side by side. Jake opened the passenger door for me and I got inside. As he was closing the door, I said. "Just no funny business, alright?"

Jake grinned at me again. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said, and shut the door.

**AN: This chapter got insanely long. I have no idea how it got this long! Ahhhhh! Anyway, here comes the wonderfull romantic fluff! Be warned, next chapter will be romantic and fluffy! **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, read, and has given this story a chance! wink**

**Please review!**

**I don't own Twilight! Just OC's and the plot!**

**-BMTW**


	15. Date!

Chapter 15:Date?!

Jake's car was a tiny, black VW Bug. The thing was little and cute and silly - the opposite of the man driving it. I was oddly comfortable with Jake. It felt like I had known him my whole life, and not just a few short hours. He was surprisingly easy to talk with - that is, when he wasn't thinking about that Bella girl. I was surprised when a stab of jealousy and anger raced through me at the thought of her name. It was obvious that Jake had really loved her, and that he still did, and she had gone and hurt him as much as she had been hurt by the man she was now marrying. The jealousy was what surprised me the most, though. Jake loved her. My selfish, needy nature was crying out for him to pay attention to me. Only to me.

I sighed internally, silencing the jealousy threatening to explode within me. I had always loved to be the center of attention - at all the wrong times.

I turned my head to look out the window. The trees and scenery were a blur, moving by the car too fast. If I looked out of the corner of my eye, I swear I could see eyes looking out at me from the trees. I stifled a gasp, and turned back to Jacob.

"Hey, Jake?" I said, keeping my voice quiet, my eyes down.

"Mmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Only if I can ask you one."

"'K. Shoot."

Jake turned to look at me, completely tearing his gaze from the road. "Can you really speak Italian?"

I laughed out loud. "Naturalmente realmente parlo italiano. Ho vissuto soltanto in Italia per quattro anni della mia vita! Penso che abbia preso almeno una padronanza di base della lingua in quel tempo!"

Jake just stared at me. "Uh…..you might speak Italian, but I sure don't."

I grinned up at him. "I said, of course I really speak Italian. I only lived in Italy for four years of my life! I think I would have picked up at least a basic mastery of the language in that time!"

"I think I believe you now." His face got a mischievous look on it. "Do you know how to cuss in Italian?"

"Jake!" I slapped his arm.

"Do you?"

"I don't cuss in English, let alone another language!"

"So you don't, then." He looked smug.

I sighed, exasperated. "Of course I do. Knowing and doing are two very different things."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, miss priss. You said you spoke Spanish and French, too. Why did you go through the trouble to learn all those languages?"

"Well, Paolo was the one who taught me Italian and Spanish. He said I would need to learn Italian if I was going to live in Italy. His parents were from Mexico, so he grew up speaking Spanish, and he said it was pointless to learn Italian without learning Spanish. The two languages are really similar - once you know one, you pretty much know the other. Aro said that I should learn French because it might be useful one day. I didn't really have a choice." I shrugged.

"God." Jake said, looking at me sadly. "Your life sounds miserable."

I just shrugged again. "Worse than some, better than others. I don't really like to dwell on the past."

Jake looked away. I just sighed and looked out the windshield at the curves of the road in front of us. We were only about halfway to Port Angeles. I looked back at Jake. His face was tight again.

"Jake." I murmured, careful to keep my eyes out the window. "Do I get my question?"

He sighed. "Yea."

"I know you really love Bella. Still. I don't understand why you're doing this to yourself." I said, keeping my eyes trained out the window.

"Doing what?"

"Ripping yourself apart. Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I have eyes. I can see the pain you're in. Why are you taking me out, when you're clearly not over her?"

"I'm not going to fight." He said quietly, his hands clenching the steering wheel so hard I thought it might break.

"What!?"

"I saw what fighting an imprint did to some of the others. You want to talk about me being torn apart? See if you like what happens if I try to stay away from you." Jake's voice was harsh and cold.

"Wait. I don't understand. What happens if you try to fight an imprint?"

"We go crazy trying to see our imprints. We'll do anything it takes, even obey a direct order from the Pack leader." He shuddered, obviously remembering something he didn't want to.

"Oh." I whispered, trying to imagine what could be so horrible. "So is that like one of those wolf things? The direct orders?"

"Yea. Sam - he's the leader - if he gives an order, you have to obey. You don't have a choice in the matter. It's something to do with our genetics. We can't just ignore him."

"So it's kind of like you're trying to disobey, but your own body won't let you?"

"Exactly."

I winced, trying to imagine what it would be like to try to fight my own body to do what I wanted. It must really be like being ripped apart.

The rest of our ride was quiet.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jake pulled into a parking space outside a little restaurant in a part of Port Angeles I didn't know. It was dark already, and the little brick building was adorned with festive little white lights. Vines trailed up the sides of the walls.

I turned to Jake before getting out of the car. "Sorry I asked so many personal questions."

Jake turned to me. His eyes were kind. "It's okay. I asked you to trust me, and part of that means you get to ask questions."

I smiled at him, a warm, happy feeling filling me. For some odd reason, I felt like hugging him. That warmth faded from me as I looked down at my clothes. They were still what I had worn hiking. Groaning, I pulled my long, white-blond hair over my shoulder to asses the damage. It was a tangled mess from being knocked over earlier. I sighed - long hair tangles really easy.

Jake heard me and smiled. "Don't worry. This place looks fancy, but it's really casual. No one will notice."

"It's not that." I explained, "I don't really care what people think of what I'm wearing. It's my hair." I gestured at my now waist-long hair. "It's way to long to manage. I'll have to cut it."

Jake frowned. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Cut your hair. It's pretty the way it is. It fits you. I - I like it." He smiled and tentatively reached out to brush my hair back behind my ears. I blushed and looked down. Jake smiled and slid out of the car, and around the front to open my door. He proffered his hand, grinning ear to ear, and I took it.

"Why thank you, kind sir." I giggled, putting on a fake British accent. Jake laughed, pulled me into a quick embrace, and towed me to the door. I stopped short, though, when I read the name.

"Italian?" I asked, my eyebrow raised.

Jake looked horrified. "Oh! Oh, God, Em, I'm so sorry! Come on, we can go somewhere else. There's this great place down the street. Oh, I'm -"

I silenced him by putting my hand over his mouth. I had to reach, which was unusual. I was used to being the same height as most guys. I hadn't really noticed how tall Jake was before. "Jake! Jeez! It's fine! I told you, I don't like to dwell. I love Italian food. By the way, how tall are you?"

"Six-seven." He answered around my fingers. "Are you sure? Because it's really no problem to -" I cut him off by pressing a little harder.

"Jake, I said I was fine! Let's go eat, okay? I skipped lunch - I'm starving." Jake just shook his head, and lead me into the restaurant.

It was almost empty, which should have struck me as odd, but I ignored that. The host was a boy about my age, with a serious acne problem that he couldn't quite cover with his long blond hair. He smiled politely at us, and led us to a booth in the back of the dining room. It was secluded, little potted trees and plants sitting on top of the low wall that partitioned this part of the restaurant from the rest. The lights were turned off in most of the dining room, candles and electric wall-mounted lanterns provided a warm glow to everything. More tiny white fairy lights were draped along the dark ceiling, creating the illusion of stars.

I smiled - it was _very_ romantic.

The host gave us our menus and sat us down at one of the booths. Jake smiled sweetly at me as he slid into the opposite seat.

"Your server will be right with you." the boy said in a bored voice, slouching off to his position by the front door.

Jake leaned across the table and whispered. "I don't think they're paying him very much."

I laughed. "Oh, come on! How much would it suck to have to work while you watch people your age go on dates?"

"Point taken." He said, shrugging. Jake looked around for a moment, then turned his attention back to me. "So, what's your favorite music? Or actually, what bands do you like?"

"Jeeze. You get straight to the point, don't you?" I teased. "Um, let's see….Linkin Park, Flyleaf….um…..Three Doors Down….Green Day…Oh! Offspring, of course! And The Red Hot Chili Peppers, uh….Pink Floyd, Queen, and Lead Zeppelin."

"Queen?"

"Yes, Queen! They have some of the most genius music ever. Do not diss the Queen."

"Okay, but…._Queen?!_" Jake asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Hey! What did I tell you!? No dissing Queen!" Jake just smiled mischievously at me. I had a feeling that this was one conversation that wasn't quite over. I rolled my eyes and changed the subject. "What kind of music do _you _like, then?"

He shrugged. "Mostly the same stuff. Only, -"

"No Queen." We said the same time, our conversation dissolving into laughter.

We were interrupted by the waitress. She was older than me, with chin-length black hair. She was also ridiculously pretty.

"Hi! What can I get you two?" She asked, smiling brightly at Jake. I rolled my eyes and flipped briefly through the menu.

"I'll have the shrimp scampi and a medium Coke, please." I said, forcing her to take her eyes off Jake. I was bizarrely jealous. She frowned at me and wrote down my order, along with Jakes. I was too busy glaring at her to notice what he ordered. She left with another bright smile at Jake, and too much of a sway in her hips. I looked down and fiddled with my napkin.

I felt a warm hand on my chin, forcing me to look up. "Em, you look kinda mad." Jake said, smiling at me.

I jerked my head away. "Some people don't know when to keep their eyes off of some one else's date." I muttered.

Jake startled me with a sharp bark of laughter. "So I'm your date now? What happened to miss 'I'm not going to fall head-over-heels for you just 'cause you're handsome?' When did this become a _date_." He said, his voice mocking.

I smirked and flicked a little piece of napkin at him. "When we walked through the door, silly."

Our meal was short. The waitress brought our food in record time, and we scarfed it down just as fast. I don't know why Jake was so hungry - I hadn't eaten lunch, so at least I had a reason.

When our waitress handed us the bill, Jake grabbed it before I could look. He pulled out his wallet, and threw thirty bucks in the bill book. I glared at him, took out a ten dollar bill from my own pocket, and replaced his with it. The waitress watched with an amused expression before taking our cash. Jake just looked at me, stunned, as I handed him back his money. Then he collapsed into his seat, his entire frame shaking with laughter.

"What on Earth was I thinking, trying to pay myself?!" He said, wiping tears from his eyes.

I grinned and shook my head. "Come on, Jake." I laughed, standing and starting to walk back to the exit. Jake followed, still chuckling. I nodded to the host as we walked out into the warm night air. Our car - Jake's car was the only one in the parking lot. It was funny how I had already started to think of his car as 'ours'. I shook my head and spoke to distract myself.

"You know," I said, without looking back, "I _was_ going to pay for the whole thing, but somehow, I don't think you would have let me."

Jake laughed even harder.

**AN: Hurrah for the romantic fluff!**

**Thanks to reviewers & readers! XD (I have over 1000 hits! Astonishing!)**

**The next chapter will be up in a few days! And it will be more fluff! **

**I don't own Twilight. Just OC's and the plot.**

**-BMTW**


	16. Duty

Chapter 16:Duty

I fiddled with my hair, trying to figure out how to twist it up into something semi-fashionable. After a few minutes trying to find something that I liked, I gave up and tied it back into it's usual ponytail. I rarely ever wore my hair down, or wore makeup for that matter. I really only wore makeup when I wanted to look how I felt. I guess there's no reason to break tradition, I thought. Sighing, I grabbed a granola bar and my bike, and pedaled to work.

I knew I was only going through the motions of a regular day to try to keep my mind off _that_ night. I hated to admit it, but I couldn't keep my thoughts away from Jake. The way he had smiled at me, the way he his laughter, his voice had sounded. The way his eyes had looked as he dropped me off Saturday night. And, somewhere deep down inside, I was trying to not think about the wild stab of jealousy that had flown through me when the waitress had flirted with him.

But the real reason I was trying not to think about him, I knew, was the fact that my life had felt bizarrely empty without him, the last two days. Jake had said that he wouldn't be able to see me for a while - more wolf stuff, I assumed - and my heart jumped erratically when I thought about future dates with him.

"Stop that." I growled to myself, unlocking my bike from the rack behind Thriftway. "You barely even know the guy. He could be a player, for all you know."

"Talking to yourself is never a good sign, you know." A cool, velvet male voice spoke from right behind me.

I jumped and spun around, coming face to face with the last thing I wanted to see. A boy, a few years older than me, was leaning against the brick wall. He was gorgeous, inhumanly beautiful, with tousled bronze hair, and icy white skin. An all too familiar pressure attacked my head, and I shut my mind out, building a brick wall around it. Well, crap. My life just keeps getting better and better.

I shrugged at him, deciding to play nonchalant and clueless. After all, maybe I could trust him - his eyes were the same gold-brown as Carlisle's. "It's how I think."

He took a step towards me, moving away from the wall. I moved slowly back behind the bike rack. "I don't trust you." He said, his voice and his eyes dangerous.

"I-I don't know what you mean." I stuttered, taking another few steps back, seemingly unconsciously.

"Of course you don't. Carlisle tried to keep you hidden, you know. He didn't want me knowing about you."

I was starting to get frightened for real. Maybe he wasn't one of the infamous Cullens. "Really, I don't know what you're -"

"Don't toy with me!" He snapped, his eyes flashing. "You might have fooled Carlisle, but I know better. People don't just _escape_ from the Voltouri. I don't know what game you're playing here, but if I catch you near my Bella…" He hissed, his voice trailing off menacingly.

Something clicked in my brain. "You're Edward." I said, relaxing visibly.

"Alice said you might be important later." He muttered, so low, I knew I wasn't suppose to hear. "I don't understand how."

I stopped backing away from him. If he needed me in the future, he wouldn't hurt me now. Only try to scare me. He took advantage of that and closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye.

"You've been around the wolves." He hissed, far too close to me for comfort. "They're no friends of mine, but you've been playing the same games with them."

I laughed. "Okay, now you've lost me. Wolves?" I asked, widening my eyes.

Edward hissed and drew closer to me. I refuse to blink or back down. "You know exactly wha -"

He was interrupted by a voice I knew all too well. "Em? Hey, Em, your manager said you'd be back here! Sorry I -" He stopped when he came around the corner and caught sight of us. The bouquet of carnations he was holding dropped from his shaking hands.

"What are you doing with her?!" growled Jacob , glaring at Edward.

Edward turned, snarling at him. I rolled my eyes and smiled at Jake. "Jake! Hey! I meant to call you, only I don't have your number!." He glanced at me like I was crazy. I pleaded with my eyes, Jacob Black, don't you give me away now. "Have you met Edward?" I asked, smiling even more brightly.

"Yes." They both growled at the same time.

I sighed. I wasn't going to get anywhere with either of them any time soon. "Well, it has been lovely to see you both. I would _love_ to stay and chat, but I have to get to work. If you'll excuse me?" I said, pushing past Edward, and touching Jake's hand briefly. Edward hissed, spun, and was gone. I sighed and leaned against Jake.

"What was that all about?" He asked, the anger still evident in his voice.

"He thinks I'm a spy for the Voltouri. I'm guessing the Cullens have some kind of conflict with them. Probably about Bella. Humans - well, ones that won't be…disposed of later - aren't supposed to know about vampires."

Jake looked at me, surprised. "That's exactly what's been going on. How did you -"

"I'm a good guesser." I glanced at my watch. Great, I thought, I'm going to be late. "I wasn't joking about having to go to work." I pointed out to Jake.

"Tell them you ate something funny and leave. I want you with me today. I don't trust the leech. He might come back."

"And if that happens, I will be perfectly capable of defending myself."

Jake widened his eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. "For me?"

I groaned. "Not the puppy-dog eyes!"

"It's a look I do very well." Jake murmured, wrapping me in his arms, and kissing my forehead. I shivered and pressed closer to him. Kissing his way down my temple, and my cheek, he stopped at the corner of my mouth. "You'll get more," He whispered, "if you ditch work today."

I turned and kissed him swiftly. "Deal!"

I ran in the back door of the store, knowing that my still pale face would add to my charade.

"Alicia!" I called, sticking my head in the break room door. My manager - and friend - a smiling, grey haired woman, looked up from her coffee.

"Yea, Liz?"

I rolled my eyes at her annoying nickname for me. "I'm not feeling too great right now. I don't think I cooked my eggs long enough. Is it alright if I take today off?" I asked, trying to look sick.

Alicia's eyes twinkled. "And this sudden illness has nothing to do with the handsome young man with the flowers, am I correct?"

I stuck my tongue out at her. "He's taking me home." I explained.

The woman waved her hand at me. "Oh, go on. I was young once, too. Go have fun with your boyfriend. I'll cover for you."

I smiled, a small thrill shooting through me at the word. "Thanks, Alicia." Racing back down the hall, I briefly wondered why I was so anxious to get back to Jake.

_Boyfriend._

When I was back at the bike rack, I found the carnations in my bike's place, and a note pinned to them.

_Em, the bike's in the car._

I smiled, and made my way to the parking lot. There, waiting just for me, was the black Beetle, Jake in the driver's seat. I hopped in the car, smiling brightly at Jake.

"Where too?"

"Close your eyes." He said, starting the car.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Can I open them yet?" I laughed, peeking at Jake through my fingers.

"No, silly. You have to wait." he said, turning off the engine and shutting my fingers over my eyes.

"Waiting's no fun." I grumbled, getting out of the car. It was another overly humid day in Forks, and the air around me smelled like the ocean. The air was completely still, and bird calls whistled all around me. Jake grabbed my hand and towed me down a rocky path, up a hill, and then lifted me off my feet and carried me the rest of the way to…..wherever we were going.

I protested when I felt his strong arms around my shoulders and behind my knees, lifting me as if I weighed nothing.

"Jake! No! Put me down!" I struggled feebly, but somehow managed too keep my eyes closed.

"Sorry." He said, his rough voice near my ear. I shivered unconsciously. "I can't. I want to show you something, but you'll have to trust me to get you there, first."

I cracked one eyelid open and pathetically tried to glare at him. "I suppose it would be pointless to try to escape, seeing as you're only a bazillion times stronger than I am…" I mumbled.

He laughed and kissed my nose. "I suppose so."

The steady rhythm of Jacob's walking was very soothing, and soon I found myself relaxing in his warm arms. My eyes were closed of their own accord. _He sure smells nice_. I thought, noticing the woody, musky smell that seemed to be a part of Jake. He smelled like the forest after it rained, all clean and earthy and alive, like animals running free through the thick foliage, like birdsong and wolves howling at clear night skies, like home.

This - my body cradled against Jake's chest, walking through the forest with him, talking with him, his arms around me, my arms around his neck, the feel of his lips on my skin - it all seemed right. Not just right, but _right_. Like this was always what was supposed to happen, like Jake was a part of me.

A horrible thought occurred to me. If there were no vampires, no Voltouri, no Aro, no seeing the deaths of strangers, no werewolves, no strange powers and living myths…….I would be in New York, still. Mom might have still been dead, but I would have been adopted by a happy family, and living in another world right now.

Was this all even real?

Or was I in some twisted dream, waiting to wake up, but unable? Would I open my eyes tomorrow morning and find that I was home, safe in bed, with no monsters out of legend to haunt my life? Would I find that Jacob, Aro, Carlisle, Volterra, even Forks were just places that my twisted imagination had dreamt up to fulfill some need for drama?

I gulped, feeling fear and sorrow in the pit of my stomach. Jake seemed to notice, and pulled me closer too him. I took advantage of that, and nestled closer to him, pressing my face against the hot side of his neck.

No, I decided, this feels much too real to be a dream.

Jake pressed his lips against my hair. "We're here!"

I opened my eyes and smiled up at him, before turning my gaze on the scenery. But before I could get a clear idea of what I was looking at, Jake tossed me up, spinning me into the air like a professional dancer. I let out a stupid little _squwee!_ noise as he caught me and spun me back into his arms, planting my feet firmly on the ground. His arms encircled me, and I felt dwarfed against his huge body. My hands rested limply against his chest as I laughed shakily.

"Um, how about we warn Em the next time we go to throw her around?" I said, looking up into his dark, dark eyes.

Jake laughed, pressing his forehead against mine. I think I forgot how to breathe. "Where's the fun in that?" He asked in a whisper. I guess he didn't expect an answer, because he pressed his lips slowly against mine, kissing me slowly and sweetly, as if we had all the time in the world.

My mind stayed calm, but my body reacted crazily.

I pressed myself against him, not trying to deepen the kiss, just wanting the feel of him against me. I loved the way our bodies fit together, hard against soft, his chest fitting perfectly against mine. My arms lifted of their own accord and tangled in his hair as his tongue pressed my lips open. We stood like that for a long time before we had to break apart, gasping for breath. Jake wrapped his arm around my waist, and I pressed into the warm curve of his body.

Jake looked down at me, grinning like the sun itself. "What do you think, Em?" he asked, sweeping his hand out to encompass the area in front of us. I blinked. I had completely forgotten that there was something he wanted to show me. Other than his amazing kissing skills, that is.

Looking around us, I gasped. "Jake, it's…it's…..perfect!" I whispered in awe.

We were standing on a small ledge above a beach, looking out over the ocean. This beach was nothing like First Beach had been. There were no rocks here, at all, and there were two pincer like peninsulas that stuck out into the water, curving around to create an almost circular cove. Vegetation extended to the very tips of the hooks. The small strip of sand that made up the beach was pure white, and sparkled in the sun, and the water was still grey but it looked happier, almost brighter, like someone had spilled blue paint in it. The sun peeked through the clouds and sparkled on the calm water inside the cove. Beside Jake and me on the ledge, a small stream - only a few feet across, and about ankle deep - cut through the ground and tumbled gracefully down the five-foot drop into the water, creating a mini waterfall. Behind and around us, bright green trees and ferns grew happily, stretching up to the sky.

I looked at Jake, pure joy radiating through me. I had never seen something so beautiful, so perfect as this cove. Jake smiled sweetly at me, and jumped easily down to the sand. He held out his hand for me to take and helped me down next to him.

"There's more. Come on!" He led me around to the right hook, opposite the waterfall, and pointed at something near the base of the ledge, where it began to get lower as it curved into the peninsula. A cluster of tidal pools shimmered brightly in the light. Jake took my hand and guided me closer.

I laid on my stomach at the edge of one, sticking my head over it. Brightly colored anemones and seaweed clustered on small rocks and fish darted around them. I giggled as I watched them, feeling oddly……simple. Not simple in a bad way. More like I was just happy. No complications, no weirdness to weigh me down.

I noticed something else that made my heart jump for a moment. I couldn't feel any death here. Usually, no matter were I am, I can feel the cold weight of those who had died. That's because, no matter where I am, someone has died there. Usually if it's really old, I don't notice it, not unless I'm concentrating, but this was something different. There was absolutely no chill to the air, no fuzzy weight that seemed to press on my mind.

"Jake?" I said, standing and walking to the middle of the cove, knowing he would follow.

"Yea?"

"H-how did you find this place?" I whispered, for some reason unable to raise my voice.

"My dad use to fish here. He can't get out here anymore, but I still come here. It's a good place to think."

"It's amazing."

"Yea." He gazed out at the sea, his eyes faraway.

"Who else knows about this place?"

"My dad. The Pack. A few hikers, maybe." Jake shrugged, still distracted. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking about, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Sitting, Jake sighed, and I sat with him. He seemed to wrap his arm around me without thinking about it. We sat there for hours, just looking out at the world. We didn't talk much - Jake did ask for the time a few times, like he was worried about being late to get home. I had to take a deep breath when I realized that I never could worry about being late. There was no one to miss me. I was living every teenager's dream - I could do whatever I liked, and no one could say a thing about it, mostly because there _was_ no one to say anything about it. The only problem? It wasn't _my_ dream.

Around two in the afternoon, Jake got up and ran back to the car. I lay on my stomach in the sand and drew doodles with my finger until he came back with a blanket that he spread on the ground beneath us, and a couple sandwiches.

We ate in silence.

At sunset, I looked up at Jake. Despite our quietness, it hadn't been awkward. Neither of us had felt the need to talk. Now, however, I felt a question burning my lips, a question I just had to ask.

"Why me?" I blurted, unable to stop myself.

"What?" asked Jake, turning so he could look at me. The whole left side of his face was brightly lit with a pinkish orange glow that set of his skin and hair and eyes wonderfully.

I had to remember to take a breath. "I just mean, why is it _me_ that you're showing all of this to? Why not _her_?" I regretted saying it instantly, but I couldn't help it.

"That was love. This is destiny."

"This is your duty." I realized suddenly. "You are going along with the imprint thing or whatever because you have to, not because you want to."

Jake looked down, but not before I could see the answer written all over his face. It was like a crushing blow to my chest, and all the air _whooshed_ out of my lungs for an instant, before I got myself back under control. Jake took a shaky breath and lay down, his face buried in his arms. I looked out at the pinkish clouds, trying to reconcile myself. Dimly I realized it was too dark to find our way back to the car. We were stuck.

Finally, as the last rays of sunlight slipped beyond the horizon, I said quietly to Jake, "We'll figure something out. It won't be easy, and I'm sorry that you had to meet me at such an awful time. But I'll help you get through this. I promise. I promise."

Jake snored and rolled over, his eyes flickering beneath closed lids. I sighed - of course he was asleep - and lay down next to him, staring up at the sky.

I had one last thought before I slipped into a dark and dreamless sleep.

_I promise._

**AN:More fluff. Huzzah. I am absoulutly terrible at writing romantic fluff, and these chapters are just to give me practice. I hope I did okay.**

**The whole Edward/Emily thing will be discussed by Emily and Jake in later chapter. I kept trying to think of a way to fit his warning in here, and it just worked with this chapter. So there. There will be more of the Cullens soon, I promise! I just have to get the romantic fluffies out of the way first. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers, readers, and people who are giving this story a chance! **

**I don't own Twilight. Just my OC's and the plot.**

**-BMTW**


	17. Sightless

Chapter 17:Sightless

I opened my eyes to a strange sight. I was kneeling on a strange prairie, the grass brown and dead, extending in miles all around me. There were no trees or hills, just grass from horizon to horizon. The sky was a deep gray, the light dim and blurry, and enormously high.

I was on my knees next to Jake. His eyes were closed, and his body still, apparently asleep. I watched him for a moment, horror rising in my chest. He wasn't moving. _At all._ Gingerly I stretched out one hand, brushing his cheek, pulling away in shock as I found it cold.

Shaking, I wrapped my arms around myself. I was suddenly freezing.

_You did this._ A sad voice in the back of my head reminded me. _To all of them._

I stood, looking around me. The plaine was suddenly filled with hundreds, _thousands_ of bodies. Men, women, grandparents, teenagers younger than me, all lying cold and dead on their backs, staring up at the sunless sky with sightless eyes. Beside me, Jake lay just like the rest of them. Next to him, a man lay face down, his face obscured, the only one not facing the sky.

Running, sobbing, leaping over the bodies, trying to get away, I fled, bile rising in my throat. Bones and flesh crunched and gave way beneath my feet when I stepped on one of the bodies. But the image that stuck most in my head was Jake's sleeping face, Jake's dead face.

I woke screaming.

**AN: This is a really short chapter. It was supposed to be part of the next chapter, but it just worked better this way.**

**Thanks to the all the reviewers, readers and people who give stories a chance out there!**

**-BMTW**


	18. Surprise

Chapter 18:Surpise

I flailed, my body entangled in my bed sheets, gasping, trying to clear my head and stop screaming.

"Emmy! Em! It's okay! You're safe!" a husky voice whispered forcefully from the other side of the room.

I shrieked, jerking away from the voice. Unfortunately, that slight movement proved to be too much for my precariously perched body, and I tumbled off the bed. My breath blew out of me in one startled _whoosh_ as I landed, hard, on my back. I blinked up at the ceiling for a minute, too shocked to do anything else.

"Em, are you okay?" the husky, familiar voice asked, it's body hidden in the shadows of the door frame.

"Oh, God! Jake!" I yelled, standing and hurtling into his arms. It was odd that I had known him only a few short days. The relief I felt at seeing him was that of two people who had know each other their whole lives.

I buried my face in his shoulder, tears flooding from my eyes. Jake ran his hand over my hair again and again, trying to calm me. We stood like that for a while, Jake just letting my tears dry of their own accord. Finally, my sobs calmed to a reasonable hiccup. I sighed, leaning against his form, allowing my breathing to calm. Jake looked at me with his dark, unreadable eyes, and kissed my head lightly.

"I'll take that as a no." He whispered into my hair.

I laughed shakily. "That is most definitely a……wait. How did you get in here? How did _I _get in here, for that matter? The last thing I remember, we were at that little beach."

Jake sighed, pulling me over to the bed and sitting me down. "I felt bad about my…..tantrum.…..last night, so I brought you home. I stayed, just to make sure you were okay." he saw my raised brow and added hastily, "You were thrashing and mumbling a lot. I just figured you might need someone here for you." he explained, opening the curtains on my window, letting the cloudy light stream in.

"Regretting something doesn't mean it's not still true." I murmured, trying to keep my voice neutral.

Jake walked over and took my hands in his large ones. "That doesn't mean we can't still try." he said, eyes flickering. I looked down, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I have to get to work." I said, pulling out of his grip. I grabbed my clothes and stalked to the bathroom, changing in a hurry. I had about half an hour untill my shift started, but I had to get out of there.

Jake was by the door, holding something in one hand, my jacket in the other. I reluctantly let him help me into it as I tied my hair back.

"I made you breakfast." He said, proffering an egg burrito.

"Thanks."

"Em-"

"I'm going to be late, Jake."

He sighed and looked away. "Would you like a ride."

"Nope. I'm going to walk."

"It's raining."

"It's not like I'll melt." I said, flipping up my hood and starting out the door, taking a bite of my breakfast as I did.

"Em!" Jake called after me, "What time do you get off?"

I sighed and turned. "One thirty!" I yelled back, meeting his eyes for a moment. Regret and apology hovered just beneath the surface. I took a breath and walked on.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the Thriftway, I replaced my damp jacket with the oversized, bright yellow shirt that all employees were forced to wear. Does _anyone_ look good in yellow?

Most of the day passed uneventfully. Alicia winked slyly at me when she made a routine check of my register. I blushed and looked away. For an older woman, she was really….um…..young at heart. The store filled with customers complaining about prices, length of lines, the lack of health food, the excess of health food, and generally anything there was to complain about. At some point, a man was in my line, buying groceries, and my register decided to shut down. It took about ten minutes for Alicia and me to figure out how to get it running again. My particular register shut down almost bi-weekly. To make that even more annoying, it was always a different problem that caused it to fail. It's just my luck that I ended up with the Cash Register From Hell. When it had been fixed, I looked up at the man.

"This happens way too often. I'm sorry it took so long to fix." I said, smiling sadly.

The man's dark eyes met mine, and he smiled meanly. "No you're not." he told me, falsely cheery. A boy standing next to him kicked the mans leg, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Dad!" he hissed. "You don't have to do that!"

I just rolled my eyes and handed him his receipt.

By one fifteen, I was fidgeting impatiently. The end of my shift was in fifteen minutes, and - I hated to admit it - I couldn't wait to see Jake again. I was also starving - I never took a lunch break because I left work so close to lunchtime. It didn't help that I had to look at everyone's groceries.

A girl plopped her groceries on the conveyer belt, keeping her head down, her deep brown hair hiding her face. Behind her, I heard two women whispering.

"Yeah, that's her." one of them said, looking contemptuous.

"I heard that she's getting married in _August._ Isn't she only eighteen?" the other whispered, glancing at the back of the girl's head. They lowered their voices again, and I couldn't hear them. In front of me, the girls hands clenched on the countertop, turning the knuckles white under already pale skin.

Things clicked in my brain.

"You're Bella Swan, right?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

Her head snapped up, hostility in her eyes. I realized suddenly how Jake had fallen in love with her, how a leech, even, could fall in love with her. Her dark brown eyes were wide and childlike, innocent and believing, under her high, straight brows. They were complemented by a small, straight nose, and a soft, full mouth. Her skin was pale, paler than mine, and very clear - sparking jealousy in myself, under my overgrown bangs, I was hiding a nasty bout of acne - and framed by super-straight hair that was almost the exact same color as her eyes. She was average size - a good nine inches shorter than me - and fairly skinny. Even with the anger on her face, she looked vulnerable, as if she should be protected from the world. No wonder Jake had fallen so hard for her.

I blinked, realizing I had been silent too long. I smiled at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, well, you love that guy you're marrying, the le- Cullen kid, right? You trust him not to hurt you?" I asked. I held no hostility towards her choice. If she knew what she was getting into, well, then it was her life, and problem, not mine.

Bella frowned, her expression changing to one of curiosity. "Of course." She said. "I trust him with my life. But how do you-"

Shit. I hadn't expected her to notice the implications of what I said. The last thing I needed was for her to say something about me to Mr.-Angry-Leech-Head. I don't think I could handle another surprise conversation with him. I cut her off, handing her a few plastic bags. " Then don't pay attention to what other people say. It's your life, not theirs. Thanks for shopping at Thriftway!" I said cheerily, moving on to one of the gossipers behind her.

Watching me out of the corner of her eye, Bella left the store, and I relaxed. I finished bagging the woman's stuff as another girl came to take my register. I sighed in relief.

In the back room, I quickly rid myself of the eyesore of a shirt, grabbed my jacket, and waltzed out into the rain.

"I should probably go down to La Push and see if I can find Jake." I thought aloud. "I really need to apologize for this morning. I have no clue why I was being such a freak……Maybe Jake and I could go hiking, if the rain clears up." I looked across the wet parking lot, contemplating the walk home. "Stupid." I muttered. "You should have brought your bi- AAHHHHHHHHHH!" I screeched, coming face to face with a silver Volvo that appeared out of thin air. I fell on my butt as it pulled around in front of me, the passenger door swinging open.

"Get in."

**AN: Sorry this took so long to put up...I got sidetracked...XD (yea...i'm easily distracted.) ****Anyway, this chapter is a little choppy...but it'll do. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this! ;P**

**So Breaking Dawn comes out in two and a half days...and I know that no one is going to be reading fanfictions for a while after that. But I'm going to ask this anyway, will anyone still read this story after Breaking Dawn is here? (The end of this story is kind of like my take on what _could_ happen in BD, from an OC perspective) I'm not going to stop writing this (I like it too much), but it would be nice to know that someone is reading this. So anyway, keep reading my story please!**

**On to happyer things...BREAKING DAWN IS COMING OUT IN TWO AND A HALF DAYS!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am so unbelievably excited! I won't shut up about it, and my mom keeps giving me these looks like 'WE KNOW ALREADY!' I told her I wanted to go reserve BD at this one bookstore (the only semi-decent bookstore in town -small towns suck), and she's says 'Do you really think you need to? Won't it just be you and your friend rushing to go get it the day it comes out?' I just kind of looked at her and said, 'Mom, nearly every teenage girl in the tristate area is going to be rushing to get BD on saturday. Not to mention half the adult women, and a few really cool guys. I think I need to reserve it.' it's kind of sad that she doesn't realize how popular the Twilight saga is...**

**I don't own anything that even has the slightest bit to do with twilight. Just meh OC's and meh plot.**

**-BMTW**


	19. Kidnapped

Chapter 19:Kidnapped

"Nice car." I muttered, keeping my face turned away as I slid onto the leather seat. "Why not a Mercedes, though? I'm sure _you_ have the money." To my surprise, Edward chuckled under his breath.

"Sentimental value, I suppose."

"Ah." I nodded, turning to face the vampire curiously. "But what could mean so much to an immortal, life-sucking being who severed ties with the _rational_ world long ago?" Anger flashed in his ocher eyes, and a red flag popped up in my head. _Danger zone!_ it shouted, waving frantically, _Back away slowly and immediately._ I ignored it and pressed on.

"That's right! Your human love-toy. How long before you break her heart, Cullen?" I might not hold any anger towards Bella, but the leech who was leading her on…..well, that was another story. "What happens when you look at her one day, and see an 80 year old woman, where you wish she was still eighteen?"

His grip tightened on the wheel, so much so that I was afraid it might break. "That won't happen. I will always love her exactly as she is."

"It's irrelevant, anyhow."

His eyes flashed to my face, and the car accelerated. "What do you mean?"

"I know the rules as well as you do, Cullen. Humans who know about you, well, once we're not useful anymore….." I trailed off, shrugging. Edward glared out the front window, the car speeding up even more than it already was. He might have said something else if his phone hadn't rang, too loud in the small space.

"Edward." he said, flipping it open and holding it to his ear in one smooth move.

"_What have you done with her!?_" Even from the other side of the car, I could hear Jacob's furious yell through the phone. Beside me, he flinched, holding the phone slightly away from his ear.

"With who, dog?" He spat.

"_EMILY!!_"

Silently, I rolled my eyes and pounded myself on the head with my open palm.

"Be at the border in two hours. _If _she's no threat, I'll return her."

"_What do you mean 'if'?? I swear to God, you disgusting leech, if you harm a single hair on her head I'll-"_ Edward flipped the phone shut, and it disappeared from his hand in an instant.

His eyes flickered to mine. "I didn't think you wanted to hear him like that." he said quietly.

"He can't help it." I retorted. "It's just what - who - he is."

"So he's told you."

I rubbed my forehead and went back to decidedly staring out the window at the forest. We were well outside of Forks now, the road and forest moving far to quickly for comfort. The rain was coming down harder than ever, running down the glass in thick sheets, distorting the world. It looked like five, maybe six o'clock with the clouds drowning out the sun.

The leech pulled over on the side of the road and turned to me. I interrupted him before he could speak.

"Still think I'm a spy?"

"I'm the one asking questions."

"By all means, then. Ask away."

Edward closed his eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose, apparently trying to focus. "How did you escape from the Volturi?"

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "I already told Carlisle."

"I want to hear it from you." As Cullen focused his eyes on me, I felt a slight increase of pressure in my head. I blinked in surprise and hurriedly walled off my thoughts. The pressure increased again.

"Oh my God." I gasped, "No wonder you're worried about the Volturi. First Bella, and now _this_."

"What?" he snapped, looking at me in irritation.

"Cullen, _you read minds._ The second someone thinks something, you know it. Do you have any idea how powerful that is? Do you have any idea what Aro would give to have you at his side?"

"How do you know that?" he asked, anger building in his velvet voice. I shrugged. He tried a different tactic. "Why can't I hear your thoughts, then?"

I laughed. "Anyone can learn to block their mind, if they try hard enough. Some are born with the natural ability to be invisible to telepathy, but they are really, _really _rare." Something flickered in his eyes.

"So which are you?"

"The kind who learned. Duh. It's got to be a one in six billion chance that someone is born with an ability that strong. I mean, I don't think it would be that uncommon for, um, _your_ kind, because their natural strengths are heightened, but a human with that kind of gift?" I shook my head.

"That's also something that Aro's dying to get in his hands, I'd bet." Edward muttered darkly.

I rolled my eyes. "'k, enough with the chat. Aren't I being interrogated or something?"

He glanced at me and muttered something under his breath that was too quick to catch. I thought I heard 'quite strange' in there somewhere, but I couldn't be sure. "It's pointless now." he said.

"Why?"

"The whole point of me asking you questions is so that I could hear your thoughts and verify that you're telling the truth."

"Oh, well, if that's all….." I unblocked my mind, feeling weirdly exposed.

_Do I need to talk, or can I just think my answers?_

"Just think them please. Are you ready?"

_Yup._

"How did you escape from the Volturi?"

Instead of sending him words, I gave him images of how I escaped. Paolo, the documents, the wall, the plane, Forks, everything. Edward closed his eyes, trying to sort through it all. Finally, he opened them again.

"Very well, what is your name?"

_What a silly question. Emily Hamming._

"Your age?"

_Sixteen._

"Your parents names."

_My mom's name was Kelsey Hamming. My father ran off before I was born, so my mom kept her maiden name. _I didn't mean to go on, but I did. _My first adoptive parent's names were Julie and George MacGregor. The triplet's names were Jake, Jamie and Jordyn. Christa and Brian Cohen and Peyton were the ones who adopted me a second time. We went to Italy for vacation and-_

"Wait. Slow down, please. You were adopted twice? What happened?" Was it me, or was there genuine concern in his voice?

_Yea, Mom was a homicide victim, and Mr. and Mrs. MacGregor were the ones who adopted me through Social Services. When I ran off, Peyton and his family battled with the court system and won, so they got to adopt me and-_

"Hold on, please. Why did you run away?"

I threw up the walls around my mind. "Listen! It's complicated, and I don't want to talk about it. You've proved that I'm not here to call in the vampire hoard to come slaughter you all. Just let me go, ok, leech?" I cried, pain bubbling up in my chest. I hated reliving my past. I hated it.

Edward looked at me in stunned silence. I was struck suddenly by how beautiful he was. All vampires were inhumanly gorgeous, but there was just something about Edward that made him seem so, so…perfect. I pushed away that thought and put my hand on the door handle.

"I'm going home, Cullen." I said, opening the door and stepping out into the rain. I started to walk away, hoping I was going the right direction. Suddenly, he was in front of me, blocking my path.

"You're going the wrong way." He said, a smile in his voice. "I told the do - _Jacob_ that I would take you to the La Push border. I'm a man of my word, Emily." He told me, spinning me around and walking me back to the car.

"It's pointless to fight, isn't it?" I sighed, defeated.

"Yes." Edward said, pushing me lightly into the passenger seat.

The ride to La Push was horrifyingly short. Cullen drove like a madman, his speedometer never dipping below one hundred the entire time. Every turn, I was sure he would crash into the surrounding trees, but, somehow, he managed to smoothly maneuver the car down the road.

Finally, his car rolled to a smooth stop.

"There's the border." he said, pointing. "Black's waiting for you."

I shook my head and slid out of the car. I was about to close the door when I stopped. "Hey, Edward?" I asked, sticking my head back in the car.

"Yes?"

"Never, _ever_ drive me anywhere again." I told him, shutting the door.

I swear I heard him laughing as the car pulled away.

**AN: Ok, so this is a weird chapter, but hang with me here. I didn't plan this chapter - it just kind of cropped up on its own - so it's kind of strange. This is a filler chapter, mostly, because I won't be updating for about a week, and I wanted to get something up before Saturday. Also, I got a ton of really REALLY nice reviews last night and I wanted to get a chapter up for all of you.****This chapter is dedicated to the nice people who responded to my (sorta whining) note yesterday in such a kind way. SUPERFLYINGTACKLEPOUNCE to everyone!!**

**I wish I owned twilight. But I don't. 8( But I do get my OC's and plot. 8)**

**(I SRSLY CAN'T WAIT FOR BD!!)**

**-BMTW**


	20. Pain

Jacob had caught me up in his arms before I could even blink. Granted, I couldn't really see, thanks to that darling rain, but still. It's startling. His skin was far too warm, but wonderful at the same time.

"You ok?" he asked, mouth buried in my hair.

I swallowed, taking a moment to make sure that my voice would be steady, "Yeah. He's a jerk, but yea."

Jake chuckled darkly, and started leading me away. "Let's just get you home."

"Hey, Jake?" I asked, looking up at him through the rain.

"Mmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"'S ok. As long as you're safe."

I sighed and shook my head, pulling away from him. "Jake.....I.....I......" I sighed again and turned my face away. I couldn't tell him how much it hurt to know that he only loved me because he had to, and, despite how....great....he was, I couldn't ever forget that. No matter how much both of us may want to.

"Hey!" He said, grabbing my chin with one too warm, brown hand and pulling me around to face him. His eyes were about an inch away, dark and filled with so many emotions I could hardly separate them all.

"Not just because I have to, Em. Not anymore. I love you. Truly. For who YOU are, not for what fate has chosen. Because I want to. " I turned my eyes away. "I mean it, Em, with every fiber of everything I am, I swear I mean it."

Hearing him say those words, MEANING them, truly meaning them, hurt. It was a kind of pain so deep I didn't even really know where it came from. I just knew that there was some part of me screaming in terror. Because of three words.

"I know." I whispered.

And in the dark, in the rain, the cold, in the feverish embrace of a werewolf's arms, they didn't need an explanation. They conveyed that deep, lonesome fear without any help from me. Pain blossomed in Jake's eyes, and he let go of my face. It hurt even more to see him hurt because of my words. But he understood – he had to. He had to understand that love was something alien and remote and filled with pain for me. And he did. I could see it in the way his mouth tensed at the corners, little creases spreading from the edges of his eyes, making him look a dozen years older.

"I know, too." Jake kissed my forehead lightly, and transferred his grip to only one of my hands, letting me know that I wasn't the only one in pain. "I know, Em."

I gripped his hand a little tighter, and he led me to his car, hidden in the shadows.

"Will you stay with me tonight?" He asked, as we slid into the warm interior.

"Sure."

He grinned.

The little voice inside me screamed.

**Hi! I'm back! I'm really sorry it's taken so long to pick this story back up. I was so disillusioned by Breaking Dawn (it was NOT what I expected it to be) that I gave up on my fanfic for a while. But it's been bugging me, so I'm proud to announce that I will finish it, as it was planned origionally, with none of Meyer's BD changes. Sorry for people who were expecting that......**

**Also, sorry this is so short, but I wanted to get something on here b/c I haven't updated in months.**

**Anyway, read and review and enjoy life!**

**-BMTW**


	21. Ice

As the days slowly became weeks, I realized something.

_He wasn't going to leave me_.

Intentionally or unintentionally, Jake would never leave. He would always be by my side, would always love me, and would be one hell of a headache to kill. In short, I had a family again. I was really normal (or as close as you can get when your boyfriend is a werewolf) and nothing was ever going to change that. He loved me, and I loved him. And I could say it over and over again and no daggers would stab my heart and I wouldn't explode with worry.

That didn't stop the nightmares.

I tried not to dwell on them, not to take them to seriously, not to show my raccoon eyes and fear to Jake and his pack, but everyone saw through it. And as happy as I was, I couldn't stop the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

_

* * *

_

_You did this._

I struggled to wake, my recurring nightmare haunting me, the horrific images burned into my brain, staining me, polluting me.

_All of them._

No. I hadn't. NO!

_You did this._

The sheets wrapped around me, strangling me.

_Every last one. _

_You._

_Jake blinked, his dead, sightless eyes staring out past me. "Don't blame yourself." His corps's voice said, flat and lonesome._

"_It is! Oh, Jake! Jake!" I screamed, clutching at his hand. Hysterical, I pleaded with him to live._

" _'S not your fault."_

_A new voice, disturbingly familiar and just as dead, spoke up. "It is your fault, dearest Emily." It crackled with laughter._

_A hand grabbed my shoulder._

* * *

I screamed, waking, digging my nails into the hand clutching me.

"Em, Em! Jesus! Calm down. It's just me. Just a nightmare, Em."

I looked up through my tears, and, finding Jake's blood on my hands, recoiled into myself, covering my blotchy face with the sheets. "Sorry."

" 'S not your fault." Oh, God. Tremors coursed down my spine at his words. "Just a nightmare." He pulled the sheets off me and kissed my cheeks clear of tears. "Just a dream." Whispering, Jake smoothed back my hair.

"God. Oh, God." I moaned, shaking. The dream had gotten more and more vivid, but less and less clear. They had always been clear. Or clear enough to tell who died and who killed whom.

Not this time.

* * *

"Hey, Em." Emily, Jake's kind-of-surrogate mother, smiled at me as when she opened the door to find us there, awaiting her cooking.

"Hi, Emily." That was a still a little weird.

"You two here for breakfast?" She asked Jake.

We both answered at once. "Yeah." Jake smiled at me and continued. "But we can't stay. I want to take Em up to the falls today, 'cuz I don't have patrol."

"How fun for you!"

_

* * *

_

All of them

.

_You di_-

Jake grabbed my hand and laughed and pulled me up the hill, half carrying me to the top.

Jake grabbed my hand. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I grinned at him, looking from the waterfall to his lovely face. "Which one?"

The view was like nothing I had ever seen. The hill – small mountain really – jutted just above the treetops, the ones closest to us glistened with the water that was cascading down the black, slick cliff ahead. The sky looked so close I think that if I had reached up, I could have touched it. I felt like I was on top of the world.

I laughed, spinning in a circle, before settling down on the blanket Jake had brought for our picnic.

"You like it?" he asked, grinning.

"Are you kidding?! It's amazing!"

He laughed with me as he pulled out two sandwiches and a deck of cards.

"Penny Poker?"

A baker's-dozen hands later, I was up sixteen pennies and he was down to four.

"Ug." He laughed, "I think you win."

"But you're not out yet!" I complained, half pouting, half enjoying my easy victory.

"You beat the heck out of me."

"Actually, you almost had me for a minute." I admitted. "But I did learn young."

He stuck out his tongue, which was about the cutest thing ever. I laughed and touched it with one fingertip.

Ice filled me. Death filled me. I jerked my hand back, my eyes wide and panicked. He was going to die.

At the same moment, Jake jerked his head up, nostrils flared, missing my horrified expression. When he looked back to me, his eyes were as wide and scared as mine felt.

"Em! We have to get out of here!" He pulled me to my feet. "Go!" He pushed me toward the trees as I protested. "Ru-"

He was cut off by a blinding white streak slamming into him, apparently from the edge of the cliff.

He never had a chance.

I heard a sickening crack and saw two white hands jerk his head to the side, breaking his neck so hard that the skin ruptured and blood spat across me, and toss him over the cliff.

I didn't even have the time to scream, the thing was on me so fast.

Teeth bit into my neck, burning me with ice and blinding me with the sudden sense of empty nothingness.

The last thing I was aware of was red eyes and dark hair and a familiar, too familiar, voice.

"Now you will be mine forever, my dearest child. Now we can share our eternal love." He leaned over me and kissed me, hard.

I struggled for a breath. "Paolo.....wh...why?"

He just laughed delightedly and kissed me again. "Come find me in Italy, love."

The nothing swallowed me.

**Yeah, it's a little too choppy and sudden, but it works for this. Not exactly my usual style, though......**

**I won't be able to update for a while (I think) but keep reading and reviewing please! The end is near!**

**I don't own anything Twilight.**

**-BMTW**


	22. Awakening

Chapter 22: Awakening

I had heard stories of what it was like to become a monster. I had heard stories of the heartbreak it caused. The anger. The madness. I had heard stories of physical paralysis, and of thrashing, flailing victims. The stories of how the venom slowly spread through the body, changing it while the victim lay, helpless, alone. The stories of the ice. The fire. Death. And if not true death, then awakening to a new world, filled with blood lust.

But in every story, the one, overwhelming element was the excruciating pain. Apparently there were no words to describe it, other than that it was like being burned alive by ice.

For me, there was no pain. No ice. No screaming, agonizing madness on death's doorstep. Well, that's not entirely true. There was pain, ice, at the very beginning. After though, nothing. Just. Nothing. As if I had slipped into the deepest sleep I had ever known. A sleep that seemed impossible to wake from.

But wake I did.

The moment I felt the Nothingness slacken it's grip on me, I reached out, stretching myself towards conciseness. I beat the last tendrils of Darkness away, opening my being to an entirely new plane of existence.

I gasped in a ragged, hoarse breath, my lungs screaming for much needed oxygen. I felt my heart beat. Once. …..................................................Twice.............Thrice.......Quatrice. _Is that even a word?_ I wondered idly as I simultaneously marveled at my new senses and listened as my heart began to beat normally. I could _hear_ hearts beating all around me. Feet scuffling through the leaves. Wing beats of a thousand tiny insects. I could smell anything and everything. That scent, there, was the leftover shell of a robin's egg, hatched about three and a half days ago. My skin felt every tiny vibration from every leaf on every tree as they moved in the breeze. I could taste scents on the air, and the sweet, ozone taste of the air itself lingered on my tongue. When I finally opened my eyes, I was astonished to find that I could _see_ the light and shaded sides of a single hairlike bristle on a tiny leaf, twenty feet in front of me.

The most stunning thing of all, though, was a new, and yet perplexingly familiar, sixth sense.

Not only did all of my physical senses experience these wonders in extreme, even excruciating, detail, but my _being_ noted them all as well. There was just no other way to describe it. My entire conscious being was acutely aware of _everything_ at once. More specifically, the life of everything. I focused for a moment on this feeling. Suddenly, blindingly, spots and lines of dancing light and color appeared in my vision, overlaying my normal sight. I realized in an instant what I was seeing.

_Life._

I could _see_, in a sense of the word, life itself, moving, flowing through trees and animals. And surprisingly, myself. Where there was no life, there was no light. And where there was death..........There was nothing more than a sickening, cloying sense of empty, heartless cold, _exactly_ like what had claimed me during my change.

And there was a trail of that Emptiness leading over the edge of the waterfall.

_Jake_.

My stomach gave a sickening lurch and I leapt over the edge, faster and more gracefully than I had ever done anything in my life. I plummeted, landing lithely in the water at the cliff's base without a splash. Feet from me, caught on a rock, was his body.

I raced to him, tears streaming down my face, nothing but pain in my heart. I reached him and, without thinking, lifted him from the water, carried him to the bank and sat, sobbing by his side for hours.

Finally, when my tears had dried up, I dared to look at his face.

It was the face in my nightmares.

I screamed then, one long, almighty, unearthly wail.

Dimly I noticed, through my new sense, that I had startled a flock of crows from their nesting place in a tree off to my left.

I didn't care.

He was dead.

It was my fault.

He was dead.

And I could save him.

Somehow, I knew, just knew, that I could gather the life I saw around me and force it back into his body. I could. I would.

_NO!_ That cold, spiteful voice in the back of my head, the one I so frequently had argued with, seemed louder, more real, less a part of me as it's own separate being as it shouted that command at me.

_No. _It said, more gently. _Leave him. He will be nothing but an empty shell if you do this. You can't bring back his soul, Emily. That has already departed him. Let his body now rest. He has earned it._

"I can't!" I wailed. "Don't you understand? I finally trusted him! I FINALLY LOVED HIM! AND HE'S GONE AND I CAN BRING HIM BACK!" I sobbed dryly, every cell in my body screaming in pain. "EVERYONE I HAVE EVER LOVED HAS DIED! AND IT'S MY FAULT!"

_No, it's not. It is the fault of those who wish to control us. Leave him in his eternal rest and seek vengeance on the ones who deserve it, Emily._

The voice's words shook me to my core. It was true. It may have been my fault that my loved ones were killed, but I did not kill them. And now I knew who had.

My sobs gone, my anger and pain hardened into an ice cold core in my heart, I kissed Jacob's forehead and gently shut his eyes.

"I will avenge you." I whispered to him. The words, which may have sounded silly at another time, fit oddly with my mood.

"I love you."

With my dead love in my arms, my life and my being destroyed, I nealt on the ground and screamed again and again and again and again and again.

I screamed until I felt my throat dry up and my vocal cords snap and heal with the effort.

And I screamed still.

**AN: Ok, hi! Again, i'm sorry this took so long to put up. I'm hoping to finish this by september. hopefully. anyway, i might have another chapter up tomorrow, if i keep writing. I finally reread this story and got really into it again.......the only problem is that i'm unsure if i really should finish it the way i want to cuz i kind of want to take out all the twilight related bits and revise it some and try to get it published................but it's the coolest ending ever...............and in my defense, i thought of it waaaaay before BD came out.........so yeah................anyway, here's to it being one in the morning and writing and confusion!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep reading anything and everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**-BMTW**


	23. Species

Chapter 23:Species

I had long since stopped screaming when they came.

They came on silent feet, surrounding me as they emerged from the forest, the wolves on one side, vampires on the other. I assumed that they thought I was like every other newborn, full of rage and strength. Why else would they be so calm as they came across the sight of me?

Sam, the pack leader, approached me from the wolf side.

"Careful!" called one of the vampires. I recognized it as Edward's voice. "She's not the same person she was. She's dangerous. You should have left this to us." I smiled to myself. They were afraid I would attack at any moment. How could they know that I was no danger to _them_?

Sam's voice was deep and commanding. "We acknowledge your claim to it. However, if it has killed him, then it is our responsibility to act accordingly." I imagined what I must look like – drenched in blood, huddled, quivering over a dead body.

"I understand." That was the good doctor, Carlisle. "But we do not know what she is capable, as of yet, and it would be best to proceed with caution."

Ignoring their sickeningly polite argument, I focused on that other sense, at the back of my being. The lights that depicted life swam into my brain. The vampires, in fact, did have glowing, shifting colors around them. But the light was muted, graying, and blurred, as if I was looking at them through dirty glass. The wolves, in contrast, were blinding, covered in glittering, golden light. It captivated me, even as it burned my eyes. Finally, I looked back to Jake's dead face. In the background, the argument continued.

Sighing, I stood, Jake in my arms.

Instantly, they all fell silent.

I walked, my movements all soft, nonthreatening grace, over to Sam. Locking eyes with him, I proffered Jake. He took the body gently into his arms.

"Take care of him, please." I whispered, staring deep into the man's eyes.

He sucked in a breath, glancing down at Jake, and then back up to me. Finally, tentatively, he asked, "What _are_ you?"

I smiled sadly. "Revenge." I turned my back on him, and glided over to the vampires.

"Carlisle." Edward said, panic in his voice.

"I know." Carlisle frowned at me. "Yes?" His voice was cautious, almost fearful.

"I intend to seek revenge. Will you join me?" My voice felt cold, foreign.

"It is too dangerous for us." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward flick a glance at the girl clutching his hand. The fierce little girl from the checkout line. I focused my other sight on her and saw that her light was even more muted than the others, as if she was standing behind thicker glass than the others.

Carlisle saw where my gaze went. When I turned back to him, his frown deepened. "I see." I said, going out on a limb, "They are already coming after you, or that is what you fear. You don't want to make it worse."

He nodded slowly, still trying to read me. "We also do not have the resources we would need. It would be futile in any case."

"You know where to find resources." He nodded reluctantly. "And I will go, with or without you."

Edward's voice was sharp. "Alone?"

I turned to him, smiling coldly. "I am all the resources I need."

"You have a high opinion of yourself."

"I know my way around that horrid place. And now? After what I have become? Nothing. _Nothing_ will stop me."

Edward started forward. "And how-"

Carlisle cut him off. "That's enough, Edward." Turning back to me, he asked, "What do you mean, now? What can you do, Emily?"

I laughed harshly and darted my hand to the ground, picking up a tiny field mouse and holding it in my palm. "You see this?" I held it out, feeling it's tiny heartbeat thudding through me. "Do you hear it's heart? Listen, watch." I concentrated, pulling a strand of the queasy, oily black that surrounded Jake's body over to the mouse. I wound it around the bright spark at it's center with a thought, and pulled it tight with another. I watched, with sickening pleasure, as the darkness spread, finally overcoming the mouse's life. It shuddered and lay still. It's heart no longer beat.

They all cast me wary glances as I stalked to Edward. I pulled another thread from Jake's body as I went. Laying one cold hand on the boy-monster's face, I looped the thread through his shining gray silhouette.

The reaction was immediate. He yelled, jumping back, away from my fingers, slapping at the spot on his cheek where I touched him. Laughing that sickening laugh, I pulled the thread away, leaving the tiny end embedded in his cheek. It wouldn't spread, but it would be there forever, staining him, marking him.

"Do you understand? I could kill you. With nothing more than a thought. With the effort it takes me to blink. _This_ is why I can walk into the Voltouri alone, and destroy them, alone." I realized, suddenly, that they were all staring at me in horror. I smiled again, spreading my arms. "You all know where to find me, if you choose to join me."

They gave me a wide birth as I walked from the forest.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The first place I went when I got home was the bathroom.

I didn't even bother to turn on the light as I raced straight for the sink, splashing water on my face with shaking hands. As I gasped for breath in the darkness, I began to realize something.

Vampires didn't need to breath.

They also didn't have a heartbeat.

My was racing as if I had run from the other end of the Earth.

I flicked on the light, and slowly raised my eyes to the mirror.

I almost screamed in surprise.

I had expected something familiar. Red eyes, hateful, shifting expression, the usual evil.

What I saw was alien.

My eyes, once a pale green, had turned pure, hard silver, as if they had been replaced with liquid metal. My hair had turned platinum to match. My skin was even paler than it had been, but pinker than vampiric skin, and absolutely flawless. My features were straighter, more angular. Like a painting from Greek or Roman mythology. I was taller, too. Five-four, five-five, I decided. Even my body was longer, leaner, and more muscular.

I was beautiful.

I was not myself.

Reaching up to touch my face, I whispered, "What has _happened_ to me?"

_You would have looked like this eventually._ That not-so-little voice in my head piped up.

"What?"

"Yes, but it would have taken quite a bit of time." I looked around, searching for the source of the voice. "The mirror, dear." I snapped my head back, and my reflection winked at me.

I blinked, sure I was just imagining things. Then my reflection waved. _Oh, what the hell_. I thought. _My life's weird enough. Why not this too?_

"Good to see that you're so accepting." My reflection smiled at me, it's voice deeper and dryer than mine.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," I said, "Who are you?"

It laughed. "Let me explain about _you _first. It's easier."

"Alright. Why in hell's name do I look like this."

"Hell hasn't got much to do with this. Heaven, maybe." It sighed, closing it's eyes. "You are not a vampire." I started to speak, but the reflection held up a hand. "You aren't human, but you're not a vampire." It sighed again.

"I guess it _is_ easier to explain about myself first.

"I am a piece of an angelic spirit, broken millenia ago and intertwined with human souls. I am only one of many. We are passed from soul to soul when our previous carrier dies. I don't know how the human is chosen. When my partner died, sixteen years ago, I suddenly found myself with an infant. You. We were meant to grow together, and, when you could accept the knowledge, I was to reveal myself to you. When that had happened, your transformation would begin. It takes upwards of forty years, but from the time we consciously acknowledge each other, you would not age.

"The original reason our kind was created is not known. At least, not to me. Over the years, however, our kind has decided to be an opposing force to the evil in the world. Vampires. Demons. Humans who have learned to control the basic forces of creation (known to your kind as magic) and abuse their knowledge. We use each other's power and knowledge to fight side by side, in one body. And now it is your turn to join me in this battle." The reflection finished, opening it's eerie silver eyes. _My_ silver eyes.

"Okay." I said, trying to absorb it all. "But why do I look like this?"

"It is a side effect of the joining of our souls. The human takes on angelic characteristics."

"Angelic." I frowned. "So, does this mean that I have to believe in God?" I had always been skeptical of religion, feeling that it was more a collection of stories intended to teach morals than an actual reality.

The reflection looked shocked. "God? Of course not! I never said anything about God! Even _I _don't believe in God!"

"But...you said that you're part of an angel!"

"Yes, but angels do not necessarily mean God. Maybe they served Him in the past. I cannot honestly remember if I was a part of one who did, or what that angel was called. _I_ have never seen indisputable evidence of God in my thousands of years of existence. Why should we believe in something that may or may not exist? Angels, yes, they exist, but in a manner very like vampires. Beings that 'modern' society refuses to acknowledge, but walking among them never the less. If they were ever evidence of the divine, the are no longer."

I mulled this over for a few minutes before speaking. I could accept that. It made sense. Almost. "Alright. Can you at least tell me your name?"

It's eyes flashed. "Names are for humans. May I remind you that I am _not_ human?"

"I understand that. But I can't just keep thinking of you as 'the reflection', now can I?"

It smiled. "I like you. You may call me Morgan."

"_Morgan_?"

"What?! I like that name!"

I suppressed a laugh. "Okay. Another question. Why do I look like this _now_? You said it took forty years."

Morgan pursed her lips. "I took advantage of the vampire's venom to accelerate the transformation. The venom itself did nothing more to you than provide a means. This is the end. Not entirely justifiable, I'm afraid, but I had no way of anticipating what happened." She shied away from talking about Jake's death intentionally.

"And what I can do? Is that all you?"

"No, actually. You were born with a unique gift. Had you not already possessed the ability to sense life and death, you would only have heightened senses and so on. The ability to _manipulate_ life and death is mine, however. You would have had that gift, but it would have taken us a long time to learn how to work together and control it without your natural talent. I also can show you how to manipulate the forces of creation, to some extent."

"And those are...?"

"To you? Magic."

"Oh. Cool."

Morgan smiled fleetingly. "Is that the end of your questions?"

"Just one more."

"Fire away."

"What are _we_ called?"

"Reapers."

**AN: Wow, this turned out long. I decided to end it the way I planned. And it turnes out that this story makes no sense if you take out everything that has to do with twilight. interesting.**

**Anyway, I just want to say that I have been planning this ending since I first thought of the story, and nothing I have read since has changed it one bit. The end was, really, the only reason I wrote this.**

**Oh, and also, sorry about the whole God thing in here. I really hate putting anything theological in my writing when it's not supposed to be a main point, but it didn't make sense if i didn't have it..........if you disagree with what i said in here, i'm sorry, but please don't hate me. And I promise there will be no more religion stuff in here. (I really really don't like having it in a story that doesn't focus on religion and expressing ideas about religion.)**

**I don't own anything related to twilight. **

**Reading Rules!**

**Please review!!!**

**-BMTW**


	24. Author Note

Hey guys. So, I just wanted to let you all know that this story will probably never be finished. Because I grew out of the Twilight phase, and also the writing of crappy vampire fiction phase, and also the ending. I very much grew out of the ending I had planned for this. I just re-read it and…wow. Especially the last chapter. Bad. Bad me. 

Anyway, if you wanted to know what would happen (lol yeah right) she was supposed to get all emo and live with the Cullens for a while, while they amassed an army of sympathetic vampires/werewolves and then they would all magically travel to Italy to fight the Voltouri and then she would go all BA on everything and kill pretty much everyone (except the Cullens of course because I was still pretty much in love with all of them at once when I planned this) and then there would be a random epilogue at the end (where else?) where she would be emo-ly roaming the streets of the world, alone, hunting evil. Like fricking chick VanHelsing. But crazier. And with some random angel thing living in her head. (What the hell? Where did I even come up with that?) The end. 

Oh, and Bella never fricking had a baby. Suck it. 

The end forever.

Go read my stuff on fiction press because it's less crappy and has nothing to do with vampires. Because I'm sure that's what you want to do now.


End file.
